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Cambridge Antiquarian Society. Octavo Publications, 

No. VI. 



A HISTORY 



PARISH OF LANDBEACH 



COUNTY OF CAMBRIDGE. 



WILLIAM KEATINGE CLAY, B.D. 

AUTHOR OP THE HISTORY OF WATERBKAOH, 



Cambridge : 

PRINTED BY C. J. CLAY, MA. AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 

DEIGHTON, BELL & CO. ; MACMILLAN k CO. 
5ELL AND DALDY, FLEET STEEET; J. R. SMITH, SOHO SQUARE, 

LONDON. 



1861. 
Price Four StiilUngs and Sixpence. 



A HISTORY 



PARISH OF LANDBEACH 



COUNTY OF CAMBRIDGE. 



WILLIAM KEATINGE CLAY, B.D. 

AUTHOR OF THE HISTORY OF WATEF.BEACH. 




PRINTED BY C. J. CLAY, M.A. AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 

DEIGHTON, BELL & CO. ; MACMILLAN & CO. 
BELL AND DALDY, FLEET STKEET ; J. R. SMITH, SOHO SQUARE, 

LONDON. 

1861. 



K^^^. 



o 
^ 



ct 



'^ 






PREFACE. 



Landbeach, unlike the neighbouring parish of 
Waterbeach, has never had within its boundary any- 
ecclesiastical foundation distinct from the church. No 
inhabitant is able to point to remains of religious 
Houses, or recal the memory of former religious Orders, 
as conferring dignity and honour upon his native 
place. And yet the annals of Landbeach are very 
far from being dull, or unattractive. For, if the 
account of one of the two Beaches may claim, and 
occupy, the attention of the reader by its power of 
carrying him back to times long before the Reforma- 
tion, and to the buildings, no less than to the esta- 
blishments, which were in many ways the glory of 
those times, so will the account of the other Beach 
interest him in no inconsiderable degree by the infor- 
mation it can afford respecting the internal condition 
of a mere village in its progress from a state of 
obscurity down to the present day. 

The History now published is, therefore pre-emi- 
nently domestic. It occupies itself solely with paro- 
chial affairs. And from the many documents still 
preserved, particularly, from the minuteness wherewith 



IV 



those documents relate every thing pertainmg to the 
parish, we are enabled to describe in great detail all 
that concerns it. 

Not the least curious, and even important, ad- 
vantage resulting from this fact is the insight we gain 
thereby into the temporalities of the rectors, as they 
existed at different periods. We not merely have an 
accurate statement of their nature at the compiling 
of that valuable record, the King's Book, but we 
learn whatever we need wish to learn, regarding the 
several circumstances of one living previously to the 
commutation of the tithes. Should any incumbent 
peruse this, or some similar, narrative of clerical income, 
he cannot fail being as much surprised, as gratified, 
whilst contrasting the simplicity, and pleasantness, of 
his own proceedings with the complicated, and dis- 
agreeable, system of remuneration, which fell to the 
lot of his predecessors. The whole matter is here 
laid open to our view : we are made to know all 
about ' the tithe pig,' as well as the tithe corn ; about 
' the mortuary guinea,' (though in the country it did 
not exceed the statutable sum often shillings,) as well 
as the tithe of young creatures, of milk, too, of leeks, 
and of willows. 

The Rev. Thomas Cooke Burroughes intended to 
print a History of Landbeach, drawn up from the 
papers left by his father-in-law, and predecessor in 
the living, Mr Masters. His compilation, which for 
some reason or other he abandoned, is extremely 
meagre, and unsatisfactory : the manuscript consists 



of only twenty-nine pages of small quarto written 
loosely in a large and free hand. Another document, 
the work of Mr Masters himself, and out of which 
the above was chiefly taken, is of much greater value. 
It is preserved in the Kectory-house, and is entitled 
Collectanea de Landheacli. In it Mr Masters has 
noted a variety of things relating to his parish, some 
procured from an examination of the Landbeach 
drawer in the treasury of his college, and some giving 
cither the results of his own observation, or chro- 
nicling what he had himself sought out, together 
with what he had himself done for the benefit of 
his church. 

Frequent reference is made in this History to the 
college, and individuals are described simj^ly, as mas- 
ters, or fellows. Of course, it will be understood, that 
these terms are connected with Corpus Christi Col- 
lege, Cambridge, the owner of one of the manors in 
Landbeach. So, also, when Masters, and Lamb, arc 
quoted, the books meant are the History of that 
college by the former, and the re2:»rint of the same 
History by the latter. 

The view of the church was prepared by Mr Bur- 
roughes for the publication, wdiich he had projected : 
having become the property of Professor Babington, 
he has been good enough to allow it to be used on 
the present occasion. It is not, however, strictly 
accurate. 

The writer would wish to express his obligations 
to the Cambridge Antiquarian Society, at whose ex- 



VI 



pense this History of Landbeach, as was that of 
Waterbeach, has been printed : likewise, to Professor 
Babington, the Rev. J. E. B. Mayor, M.A., fellow 
of St John's college, the Bev. J. H. Sperling, M.A., 
rector of Wicken Bonant, and C. H. Cooper, Esq. 
F.S.A., of Cambridge. 

The Vicarage, Waterbeacii, 
Aucjud 2, i86r. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

The Parish 1 

The Charities 39 

The Church 46 

The Rectors 99 

Measurements of Landbcach Church . . . . .120 



HISTORY OF LANDBEACH. 



THE PARISH. 

The parish of Landbeach in the county of Cambridge is 
bounded on the east by Waterbeach, on the south by ^lilton^ and 
Impington, and on the west by Histon and Cottenham ; but to- 
wards the north it gradually terminates so completely in a sharp 
point, that it cannot be said to have there any boundary at all. 
The village is situated five miles to the north of Cambridge. 

When, or how, Landbeach began to be numbered among the 
parishes of this county, we do not possess the means of ascertain- 
ing ; no doubt, however, it occurred in very early times, and 
several centuries before the Norman Contjuest. 

The district, which at present forms the parish, was traversed 
by two works of Roman art, portions whereof still excite the 
curiosity, and exercise the ingenuity, of the learned in antiquarian 
lore. The works alluded to were a canal joining the river Graunt 
or Cam to the Old Ouse, or Old West river ; and a highway 
runninq; from Cambridge to the villaffe of Streetham or Stretham, 
named thus in consequence of its being built on that line of road. 

The canal first crossed the southern part of the parish of 

^ Milton was anciently spelt in various ways, viz. Middeltune, Medilton, 
&c. ' Middleton so called, as lying on a hill, surrounded with low grounds, 
marshes, and water, Mid-Le-Ton.' Blomefield's Hist, of Norfolk, Vol. iv. 
p. 645. 



Waterbeach, entering Landbeach near a tenement called Goose 
house, where it intersected the highway, and where, by reason of 
such intersection, some provision (most Hkely, that of a permanent 
wooden bridge) must have been made for the convenience of 
travellers. It then continued its course over what, previous to the 
inclosure, was Landbeach common, until it reached Chayre fen in 
Cottenham parish. This artificial cut, for 'it has not the least ap- 
pearance of a natural river,' is allowed to have been an extension 
of the celebrated Car Dyke, or Cars Dyke, a ditch sixty feet 
broad, which once ran, and even now runs, from Peterborough to 
Lincoln, but which may be traced up to Torksey on the river 
Trent. Who made the cut, and for what purpose, we cannot 
positively tell. We can only suppose, that the original work, as 
well as our southern portion of it, could scarcely have proceeded 
from any other people than the Romans. They wished, in the 
first place, to keep the upland waters from inundating the low- 
lands of the district we should now term Lincolnshire ; whilst, 
secondly, when an extension southwards was determined upon, 
they sought to provide for the conveyance of corn from the produc- 
tive lands of Cambridgeshire, and the neighbouring counties, in 
order to maintain their troops in the north, at York and else- 
where. Both these conjectures, as to the design and use of the 
two portions of the same canal, appear to be well grounded ; 
nevertheless they are merely conjectures, though, in regard to the 
latter of them, Stukeley is very confident, and refers to it again 
and again in his Medallic History of Caraumis'^ . According to 
a tradition existing in the parish, boats used in old times to come 
up from the east to the rectory field opposite the present black- 
smith's shop, and there unload, a depression in the field being 
pointed out as the actual spot, where this occurred. Not the least 
dependence is to be placed on such a tradition, which could only 
be true, if a branch cut from the Oar Dyke ever ended there, and 

1 Book I. pp. 125, 168, 198, 208 ; Book ii. pp. 1.30, &c. Sec a memoir 
of Stukeley in IMastcvs, pp. .181, &c. 



J 

that for several reasons hardly seems probable : no amount of 
flood was able of itself to bring boats to so high a level. 

The Roman road was styled by the Anglo-Saxons Akeman 
Street [strata], and ran for three miles at least through the tract 
of land comprised in the parish of Landbeach. It really com- 
menced at Bath, and is said to have received its designation from 
Akemanceaster, (the city of invalids,) one of the names given by 
the Anglo-Saxons to that city, ceaster having been added by 
them to point out a Roman site. Generally, however, it is 
asserted to begin at Cirencester, whence it extended by Wood- 
stock, Bicester, Woburn, Shefford, Wrestlingworth, and Orwell, 
to Cambridge (near the old castle^), and Ely; and from Ely by 
Southery, Downham Market, and Castle Rising, to Brancaster 
on the north-east coast of Norfolk, the Brannodunum or Brano- 
dunum of the Romans, ' who had a famous station and castle 
here"/ This road is still perfectly visible, under the form of a 
country lane, called anciently Beche way, but now Millway, from 
the Kina-'s Hedo-es'^ in Chesterton to the west end of Cock fen 
lane nearly opposite Landbeach church. The part lying between 
Cambridge, and the King's Hedges, was ploughed up on the in- 
closure of Chesterton in 1838. It may then be faintly traced 
to its junction at Goose house with the common high road lead- 
ing to Ely, which goes upon it for a short distance. Just past 
Denney Abbey, it bore slightly to the right of the turnpike road, 
leaving the parish of Landbeach, and entering A^'aterbeach, (as 
can still be clearly seen near the eighth mile-stone \) and crossed 
the Old Ouse at a ford near an osier-holt half a mile below wh;it 

1 A drawing of this fortress, as it stood in the middle of the sixtcentli 
century, may be seen in Gough's Antiquities of England and Wales, Vol. i. 

" Blomefield's Hist, of Norfolk, Vol. v. p. 1254. 

^ The name was known in 1522. 

■» The line of hedge along the east side of the southern portion of the 
supposed Roman road was cut down, the bank partially levelled, and tlie 
road itself thrown into an adjoining field, in December, 1858. The northern 
portion had been so treated some years before. 

b2 



used to be Stretham ferry ^ This is the account given of it in 
Babingtons Ancient CamhridgesUre'^, and it would seem to be 
the true one. In confirmation thereof we may add what Stuke- 
ley^ says, who, writing in 1759, a few years before the present 
Cambridge and Ely road was made, for the completion of which 
in some parts its materials were used, describes it as running 
' in a very straight line.' The Ordnance map, on the contrary, 
lays down the Akeman street, as identical with the Ely road 
from Goose house uj) to the late ferry itself, (thus connecting it 
with Landbeach for nearly half a mile further,) and makes it 
enter the Isle at that spot. 

To what extent the Romans colonized these parts is extremely 
uncertain. That some individuals among them must have occa- 
sionally taken up their abode here is a notion, which naturally 
results from what has been mentioned above respecting the 
ancient canal and road ; neither is it improbable, that a portion 
of such settlers ended by taking up more than a transitory abode. 
A bronze bust was dug out of a gravel pit close to the border 
of the parish on the Cottenhara side in 1855; nevertheless 
Roman antiquities of any kind do not often occur, so as to furnish 
their testimony upon the point. 

Near the old farm-house on the Worts' estate is a plot of 
ground 85 feet wide and 110 feet long surrounded by a very 
broad and deep ditch. The mansion of the lord of the manor 
of Bray, whom we shall soon read about, must have been near, 
but could not well have stood on so confined a space. It was, 
most likely, used in much earlier times as a post for security, 



* The ferry ceased to exist about 1763, in consequence of the Act of 
Parliament referred to on p. 34, which ordered it to be bought up by the 
trustees of the road from Peter Standly, Esq. lord of the manor of Water- 
beach cum Denney, and a substantial bridge to be built without delay at or 
near it. 

^ pp. 10, &c. Cambridge Antiquarian Society. 

^ Medallic Hist, of Carausins, Book ii. p. 133. 



or even defence, insignificant as it is. Small plots of ground 
similarly protected are not uncommon \ 

Though the parish in former days was more commonly 
denominated Beche than Landbeche, (and, indeed, is so now, 
as well as Waterbeach, by the multitude,) it is necessary to 
take the longer name, and endeavour to explain it, difficult as 
it may be satisfactorily to determine, what each portion of it was 
really intended to signify, Stukeley- imagined Bech or Beck 
(the latter mode of spelling marks its original pronunciation) to 
have been derived from an old Norse word Bee, which is not yet 
out of use among us, and which means a runnhifj stream. In 
this supposition he may be correct ; but, when he makes the 
waters of the Car Dyke that running stream, he would appear 
to be in error, it must rather be the river Graunt. The prefix 
' Land' comes in contradistinction to the prefix ' Water' in the 
name of the neighbouring parish of Waterbeach : both refer to 
the same circumstance, and that can scarcely be any other than 
the overflowing of the Graunt. As Waterbeach, therefore, from 
the nature of its situation, was affected, and seriously injured, by 
the stagnant waters, which once remained for many months, and 
in some places perpetually, on the parts in the vicinity of the 
river ; so was Landbeach fortunate in being on higher ground, 
and at such a distance, that the inundation could not reach it. 
This view of the matter was advocated by Cole^, who observes 
respecting Landbeach ' for distinction Sake so called, and stand- 
eth a little more remote from the fens than the other Beech.* 
To derive Bech from the word beach, and make it express the 
bank of a river, which has often been done, is not only contrary 
to the usual signification of the word, but would represent Land- 
beach to be situated on that bank, though it is sufficiently 

1 On Braham farm, two miles to the south of Ely, is one defended by 
a triple ditch along each side. 
- Ibid. Book i. p. 210. 
•^ MSS. YiA. xLviii. p. 118. 



6 

distant therefrom to allow the whole breadth of Waterbeach 
to intervene between them. 

The earliest notice we have of Landbeach occurs in the Liber 
Eliensis'^. There we find two persons named, who resided 
in the parish about the middle of the tenth century, Oswi and 
Oschetel ; perhaps also a third, Sexferth, the father of Oschetel. 
They were reckoned among the proceres, or majores, illius pro- 
vinciiie, that is, of Grentebr'scire ; and, from being of the highest 
respectability, are said to have been constantly present at all 
transactions pertaining to land. For in that early age, and like- 
■wise in later times, the common custom was, as we may equally 
])erceive from an extract soon to be produced out of Domesday 
Boole, not to have a written document, but rather to bring together 
a number of men worthy of credit — fideles viros — who might see 
the money paid, as well as the property transferred, and con- 
sequently be able, on the arising of any controversy, to testify 
what had been done. 

We must now go on to Domesday Boole, and 1086, the year 
of its completion. Landbeach is described under the name of 
Utbech, which word is conceived to signify outivard Bech, or, 
possibly, Bech out of (the water), in either case strengthening 
M'hat has been already remarked about the meaning of the prefix 
' Land.' In Utbech Muccullus holds of Picot vi hides. The 
arable land is in carucates. One carucate is in demesne ; and 
VI villani with iiii°'" bordarii, and ix cottarii, have ii carucates. 
The meadow land is in carucates. There is pasturage for the 
cattle of the village. It is worth nn'"' pounds and vi shillings. 
AVhen the property was received [from William I. by Picot] in 
j)Ounds. In the time of King Edward [the Confessor] iin pounds 
and X shiUings. Of this land Blacuin held of the king ii hides 
and in virgates. And iiii men of King Edward had ii hides; 
and they were wont to find the sheriff in days' work of the 

1 Lib. II. capp. 1], 18, 24, 33. 
- Vol. I. fol. 201 b. 



plough, and i day's attendance. And Albertus, a man of the 
abbot of Ely, had i hide, which he was able neither to sell, 
nor to separate from the church ; and another man of the abbot 
had one virgate, and was able to sell [it]. The soc remained to 
the abbot alone \ 

The AddiicDiienta, or the third volume of Domesday Book^ 
says under the \X\Xq Inqidsitio EUensis-: In ut beche Mucellus 
[holds] of Picot, the sheriff, i virgate of the soc of S. ^del. 
[Etheldreda] of ely : they were able to sell [it] without the soc : 
it is worth m shillings. And in the same village Ailbertus had 
held of Saint ^del. of ely i hide : he was not able to sell, nor to 
separate [it] from the church ; and now the aforesaid Mucellus 
holds [it] of Picot, the sheriff: it is worth x shillings. In the 
same village two cartwrights hold iii hides and a half, which 
[land] Osuui [Oswi] held of S. -^del. of eli : he was not able to 
sell, nor to separate [it] from the church, as the whole Hundred 
testified in the time of King Edward, and at his death : it is 
worth III pounds. 

The land^ of two of the king's cartwrights in North Stow 
.Hundred. In Utbech ii*' cartwrights hold of the king v hides. 
The arable land is ii carucates and a half. In demesne are 
nil hides and i virgate; and ii carucates are there. There'* 
III villani with x cottarii have half a carucate. It is worth 
ex shillings". When it was received [from William I, by the two 
cartwrights] iiii pounds and v shillings. In the time of King 
Edward vii pounds and x shillings. Of this land i man of [Earl] 
Wallef had i hide and a half. He used to find i day's work of 
tlie plough; and was able to sell [the land]. And Oswi, a man of 
the abbot of Ely, had in hides and a half: he was not able to 

■• The original has u, for uno, surely, which must be itself for uni. 
2 P. 504. 

^ Domesday Book, Vol. i. fol. 202 a. 

* In Utbech. Is there not an error in the distribution of the land ? The 
several quantities make more than five hides. 

■'"' The Norman pound contained twenty shillings. 



sell, nor to separate [them] from the church, as men of the 
Hundred testify. 

The preceding extracts give us the history of eleven hides of 
land, divided between two owners, Picot possessing six, and the 
cartwrights five, whilst both parties then held immediately of the 
king to the detriment in either case, particularly, however, in the 
latter, of the church at Ely. As regards those extracts a few 
remarks are here indispensable. We first have according to 
custom a description of the property, as it stood in the time of 
the Normans ; next, as it stood in the Anglo-Saxon times im- 
mediately before, with a statement of its value at three different 
periods. Something will be said elsewhere about Picot, the 
sheriff. Blacuin we know to have been his Anglo-Saxon pre- 
decessor in office from his being styled vicecomes in what we gain 
out of Domesday Book relating to Waterbeach. A hide is de- 
clared in one of the ancient field-books of Landbeach, in a 
contemporary handwriting, to have consisted of ]10 acres, and 
to have been called a ploughland (cultura): the carucate, from 
caruca a plough^ went likewise under the same designation, and 
contained usually 60 acres, but sometimes more : the virgate or 
yardland was a quarter of a hide, and therefore measured about 
80 acres. The villani (bondmen or serfs) were annexed either 
to the land, or to the person of the lord, and were thus trans- 
ferable^ The bordarii (cottagers) from bord, the Anglo-Saxon 
word for a cottage, occupied perhaps a less servile condition 
than the villani. The cottarii were cottagers, who paid rent in 
provisions or money, and rendered some customary services^. 
The value of the two estates, when delivered over to his favourites 

^ Helen de Beclie made over to her son Godefrid (Godyn) her servant 
Symon de Hilburne. So, also, 41 Edvv. III. [1367] certain serfs of Landbech 
were given up on the part of the college to Sir Thomas Marlebourgh, clerk, 
(who ten years later was rector of Long Stanton St JMichael's,) cum eonim 
sequelis tarn procreatis quam procreandis cum omnibus suis terris, tenemen- 
tis, &c. 

* KUis' General Introduction to Doinenday Book, Vol. i. pp. 74—85. 



and followers by William I., was much less than it. had been 
before his arrival in England, a natural conse(|uence of his invasion 
of the kingdom, and of the confusion which ensued, though by 
1086 it had in one case nearly recovered itself. The men of King 
Edward, and so afterwards, of the abbot of Ely, as well as of Earl 
Wallef, the Anglo-Saxon, were in some manner, of course,. vassals 
of those parties. The soc properly signified the district com- 
prehended under a privileged jurisdiction, and also the right of 
holding a court, to which all freemen of the district should repair : 
hence the socmen, or socagers (the root from which our English 
yeomanry sprung), meant the persons subject to that jurisdiction. 
Trifling offences only were taken cognizance of, such as were not 
specially under the sheriff* and county court\ The cartwrights 
(carpentarii) mentioned in the second and third extracts were 
evidently men of importance notwithstanding their occupation ; 
when styled the king's cartwrights, it would simply be, we may 
suppose, from holding land under him. 

In 1400, Henry IV. issued a commission concerning the free 
warren belonging to the sovereign, and by him assigned to the 
castle at Cambridge. This free warren extended over a large 
tract of country to the north of the town, embracing a variety of 
parishes, namely, Girton, Histon, Cottenham, Landbeach, AVater- 
beach, Milton, and Chesterton. King John had made the warren. 
From a comparison of two passages in the Hundred Rolls"-, we 
become acquainted with its ancient boundaries. Beginning at 
the castle it ran along the king's highway to Huntingdon up to 
a bridge called Syrebrigge or Serebrigge : from Syrebrigge it 
followed the course of the water to West Wicbrigge^; and from 
West Wicbrlgge it passed on to the great road leading from 

' Kerable's Codex Diplomat. Vol. i. Introduc. pp. xlv, xlvi ; Hallam's 
Middle Ayes, Vol. ii. pp. 274, 29G, edit. 1853. 

- Tom. II. pp. 407, 4.52. 

^ Westwick was once a hamlet of Cottenham, hut has long been at- 
tached to Hokynton. 



10 

Hampton : from the Hampton road it was continued to Ballassise 
or Belasisse ; and from Ballassise to the bank of the river : having 
gone along this bank it turned back to Sobasselode, Squappelode, 
or Squasselode ; and thence also along the bank of the river to 
the [great] bridge at Cambridge. Ballassise is now known as 
Balsar's hilP, a large circular camp, probably a British fort, in the 
parish of Willingham, but not far from the borders of Cottenhani 
and Rampton. The first river referred to means the Old Ouse; 
the second, the Graunt. The lode must have been some lode or 
ditch leading by a short cut from the Old Ouse to the Graunt ; and 
in an ancient map of Stretham parish we meet with ' "Wash load ' 
exactly where we should have expected to find such a lode, im- 
mediately to the north of Haveringniere, or, as it is commonly 
called, Harrimere. 

Before proceeding further with this History of the parish of 
Landbeach, it seems right to say a few words respecting the 
several families, whose names are connected with its manors, and 
with the advowson of the living, in early times. 

We first read of Picot in Domesday Book^ where he is styled 
Picot de Grentebrige, or of Cambridge, of course, from generally 
residing there". He came over with William L, and, in return 
for the services which he rendered to him, received the barony of 
Bourne [Brunna], and a large extent of land in this county. 
IMoreover, he was made perpetual sheriff of Cambridgeshire. His 
office, no less than his possessions, rendered him a person of great 
power and consequence. Picot does not appear to have con- 
ducted himself with much moderation in his high position : like 
most of the Normans he was exceedingly rapacious, and 
scrupled not to violate every principle divine and human, which 
interfered with his plans. Thomas, that monk of Ely, to whom 
we owe the early portion of the Liher EUensis^ devotes a v/hole 

^ Babington's Ancient CamhrirJgeshire, p. 49; Lysons' Camhridgeshire,T^.74. 
'^ See Cole's MSS. Vol. xi. pp. 203, &c. for his descendants and repre- 
sentatives ; also. Baker's MSS. Vol. ix. pp. 7, 8. 



11 

chapter' to hira ; and, certainly, he does not spare one, of whom 
he thinks so badly, and who he says was gente Nonnannus, animo 
Getulo. Indignant at the injuries inflicted by Picot upon his 
conventual brethren, Thomas calls him in one sentence, with an 
exuberance of vituperation, not very unnatural perhaps under the 
circumstances, leo famelicus, lupus oberrans, vulpes subdola, sus 
lutulenta, canis impudens. The extracts from Domesday Boole 
quoted above furnish ample evidence of Picot''s tendency to 
spoliation. One hide of land is expressly stated in the second 
extract to be holden of him in 1086, which had recently been 
held of the abbot of Ely with very stringent conditions as to 
sale, or alienation from the church. 

Picot's son Robert incurred the anger of Hen. I., quod in regis 
necem, et regni proditionem, conspirasset. He had favoured the 
party of his namesake Robert, duke of Normandy, Henry's un- 
fortunate eldest brother, whose standard-bearer he w as ; wherefore, 
on Eobert'^s discomfiture and imprisonment in 1106, he was him- 
self obliged to flee the kingdom, and abandon his estates. These 
estates were then conferred upon Payne [Paganus] de Peverel, 
cousin and nearest relation to Robert Picot. Payne died of a 
fever in London about 1122". Sir William de Peverel, Knt. 
Payne's only son, dying at Jerusalem, whilst on a crusade, without 
issue, the property fell to his four sisters. Of these ladies A delicia, 
or Alice, the third, married Hamon de Peche, who, 10 Hen. II. 
[1164], was sheriff" of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire; and 
w ho in 1 1 68 paid a mark for the knight's fee, which he possessed 
in Landbeach in right of his wife. He died in 1190. When 6 
Rich. I. [1195] a feudal aid of twenty shillings on every knight's 
fee, as scutage^, was collected to redeem the king fi-om captivity, 

1 Lib. II cap. 131. 

^ Paganus Vicecomes is said to have been sheriff of Cambridgeshire 
and Huntingdonsliire 2 Hen. II. [1156], but it could not have been Paganus 
de Peverel. Fuller's Worthies of England, Vol. i. p. 247, edit. 1840. 

•^ Scutage or escuage was a pecuniary compensation to the superior lord 
for personal service. It had been introduced in 1159. 



12 

Gilbert, their son and heir, paid two marks and a half for the 
property, which came to him through his mother. He was still 
alive 6 John [1 204]. Gilbert's son was named Hamon after 
his frrandfather : he was for a short time under guardianship, 
and died in the Holy Land 25 Hen. III. [1241], leaving a son 
Gilbert, who died 19 Edw. I. [1291]. The son of this last 
Gilbert was likewise christened Gilbert : he became baron de 
Peche of Brune in 1299 \ 

In the church of Aid worth or Aid worthy in Berkshire are 
several monuments, six occupying recesses in the walls, with 
nine recumbent figures on the top, more or less mutilated, four 
of which are crosslegged, all belonging to the family of De la 
Beche, who formerly had a mansion on the neighbouring hilP. 
This family must not be confounded, as it sometimes has been, 
and even by Cole himself, with the family of De Beche, an 
ancient and numerous family of great esteem and worth, who 
from a very early period had the usual place of their abode at 
Landbeach. They resided to the east of the church, where, from 
what may be seen at present, the original manor-house with its 
moats and fishponds undoubtedly stood. The first of the fa- 
mily, whom we read of, is Helen de Beche. She possessed the 
manor of Great Eversden, and exercised the privilege of holding 
a Court Leet, in the reign of Hen. I. Aleyn de Beche is next 
brought to our notice, who early in the reign of Hen. II. pre- 
sented the first rector, whose name we know, to the living. 
Aleyn is placed here, because, when he is stated to have held 
the manor of Landbeach of Sir AVilliam de Peverel, the ex- 
pression is presumed to imply, that he held it actually of Sir 
William himself, and not of his representatives. Nor does this 
arrangement interfere at all with the chronology, as regards his 



^ Nicolas' Historic Peerage, p. 874, edit. 1857. 

■^ Cough's Sepulchral Monuments, Vol. iii. pp. cvii, cviii ; Gentleman's 
MiKjnzinc for 1760, p. -ISO ; Lysons' Berkshire, pp. 208, 232. 



13 

son Robert, and his daughters Helen and Isabel ; for it is clear 
the latter came into their brother''s property late in life. 

Sir Everard de Beche, Knt., Aleyn's brother, probably, was 
a highly distinguished member of the family, who with others 
witnessed in 1166 the grant made in favour of the Benedictine 
monks of Denney by Robert, the chamberlain to Conan IV. 
duke of Brittany, and earl of Richmond ^ Sir Everard was 
sheriff of Cambrid Cheshire and Huntino-donshire from 16 to 
23 Hen. II. [1170—1177]. He was a man of taste and 
judgment in ecclesiastical architecture. Consequently, Robert, 
prior of Barnwell for some years both before and after 11 89, 
induced him to assist in erecting the high church of that 
monastery, a building which was completely demolished very many 
years ago, and whose foundations even are now no longer trace- 
able. Robertus, virum honorandum, et per omnia commendan- 
dum, militem egregium Everardum de Beche, ad officinarum et 
ecclesie construxionem sibi consocians, et ejus consilio ac auxilio 
utens, ecclesiam a Pagano [Payne de Peverel] inchoatam funditus 
evertit, aliamque decentiorem et ponderosi operis complevit". 
Sir Everard had the privilege of being buried in that church near 
the founder of the monastery. His services were so greatly ap- 
preciated, that the following Latin distich was also cut on the 
base of the village cross set up on the public road in the western 
part of Barnwell : — 

Quisquis es, Eurardi memor esto Bechensis, et ora 
Liber ut ad requiem transeat absque mora. 

Robert, the son of Aleyn, was alive in 1216, but King John 
then held his lands, and exercised his ecclesiastical rights in 
respect to the living of Landbeach. This Robert leaving no 
children, the property fell about 1240 to his sisters Helen and 

^ Dugdale's Mbnas^ Angl. Vol. vi. Part 3, p. 1552 ; Clay's Hist, of Water- 
leach, pp. 85, &c. 

' Baker's 3ISS. Vol. ix. p. 25 ; Leland's Collect. Vol. ii. pp. 437, 438. 



14 

Isabel. Helen had married Geoffry le Bere d'Elyngtone', (who at 
that time was dead,) and had given birth to two sons John, and 
Godyn, Godmus, or Godefrid, for he is called by all these names. 
John became guardian to John Avenel, (son of Sir Robert 
Avenel, Knt.) his aunt IsabePs grandson, and died without issue : 
on the other hand, Godyn had a son christened John, (the 
guardian of ^Villiam Avenel, her great grandson,) and a grand- 
son named Stephen. Helen inherited her brother''s property in 
Landbeach. She was found, 28 Hen. III. [1244], to possess half 
a knight's fee'" in the villages of Toft and Bech, and one knight's 
fee in Wynepole, At the same time another John de Beche, 
for it could hardly have been her son, was the owner of half a 
kniolit's fee in Mordent In the rei^n of Edw. III. we also find 
a Sir John de Beche, Knt., who bore for his arms, azure, an 
eagle, argent, charged on the shoulder with a raaunch, gules. 
Sir Robert de Beche, Knt. held about 1360 the manor of Barton, 
of which the collegfe bou2;ht the reversion after his death. 

Isabel, the other sister and coheiress of Robert de Beche, 
entered upon the possession of lands in Wimpole, Toft, and 
Morden, at her brother's death, amounting to two knight's fees. 
She was the wife of a gentleman named Avenel, whose chief seat 
was at Gamlingay, and had had by him a son Sir Robert. Sir 
John Avenel, Knt.*, the fourth in direct descent from Sir Robert, 
made over to the college in 1355, a very few years before he died, 

^ Ellington in the county of Huntingdon ? 

'^ A knight's fee was a very variable quantity of land. Depending for its 
size on the mere will and pleasure of the superior lord, it sometimes, as in 
the case of that belonging to the family of De Beche in Landbeach, con- 
sisted of five hides, or even more, sometimes, on the contrary, of only two. 
The knight's fees, therefore, of the same parish might not correspond with 
each other in extent. See Du Cange sub Feudum Militare. 

3 Testa de Nevill, p. 353. 

* His name occurs in Devon's Issues of the Exchequer, p. IGO, under the 
date 27 Edw. III. [13501, as having had a thousand pounds allowed him by 
the king for delivering up to him Roland Danej-s, whom ho had lately taken 
prisoner in Brittany. 



15 

his alternate right of presentation to the rectory of Landbeach. 
John, the son of this Sir John, was probably John Avenel of 
Ganihngay, sheriff of the counties of Cambridge and Huntingdon 
] Rich. II. [J 377]. Robert Avenel, the last male heir of the 
race, died in the reign of Rich. II. One of his daughters and 
coheiresses married into the family of St. George of Hatley\ 
which thus became possessed of a portion of the Avenel property. 
The family of Le Chamberlayne lived first at Brent or Burnt- 
Pelham in Hertfordshire, and were still resident there in 1249. 
In that year Henry, son of Sir Walter, (the purchaser of the 
manor of Landbeach,) was granted one hundred acres of land out 
of the estate belonging to the cathedral of St. Paul by Fulke, 
bishop of London. With regard to this family it is necessary to 
state, that there were two Walters, and two Henries. The 
Henry just referred to had a son named Walter (who was living, 
and in the enjoyment of the manor, before 1 272) ; and he again 
a son named Henry, whose son Sir Thomas sold the manor to 
the college in 1359: thus the property passed through the hands 
of four direct descendants from Sir Walter. Alicia, or Alice, Ic 
Chaumberlein must have been a daughter of Sir Walter. She 
was prioress of the nunnery of St. Rhadegund in Cambridge 
about the year 1278: she is likewise the lady mentioned by Mr 
Masters^, as having given a silver cup (ponderinge xxviii unces) 
to the church of St. Benedict. The name of Robert le Chaum- 
berlein occurs in the Hundred Rolls'^. He was probably a younger 
son of Sir Walter. He gave the prior of Barnwell thirty-four 
acres of arable land, and one rood of meadow, in Waterbeach; 
which estate the prior possessed in 1279, and was able to pro- 
duce deeds in confirmation of his claim to it, duly executed by 
the said Robert, and his son George. Henry le Chaumberlein, son 
of Walter, and grandson of the former Henry, persisting in holding 

' See a pedigree of this family in Cole's MSS. Vol. xi. pp. 4, &c. 

^ So styled from a great fire, which happened there in the reign of Hen. I. 

^ Append, p. 0. * Tom. ii. p. 450. 



16 

with others at Cambridge a tournament in 1 305, contrary to the 
letters patent granted to the university by Hen. III., was seized 
by the.sheriff, and detained for a time in prison'. The noise and 
bustle of tournaments interfered with the studies of the place. 
The manor of Northamstede, or Nuthamstede, in the parish of 
Barkway, was granted to him 8 Edw. II.' [1314]. Bishop Mon- 
tacute [Montagu] gave, prid. non. Jan. 1339-40, to this same Henry 
a licence to have mass said in his own house for a year. He was 
likewise permitted, exactly a twelvemonth afterwards, to have divine 
service performed within his residence, in some proper place, for 
the space of two years. Sir Richard de Walsingham, Knt. passed 
property to him by fine, 19 Edw. III. [1345], in Burnham Overy^. 
Henry le Chaumberlein died some time in 1345. His son Sir 
Thomas appears to have been dead by 35 Edw. III. [1361], 
because under that date we find Thomas Gray, and Alan de 
Buxhull, a knight of the Garter*, named as his cousins and heirs. 
Sir Thomas left, however, male offspring; and since we learn, that 
a family called Chamberlayne settled at Kingston", they may have 
established themselves in that parish, though the name occurs in 
connexion with Landbeach as late as 1461 . 

By means of the extracts above quoted from Domesday Boole 
concerning the parish of Landbeach, we are enabled to trace the 
origin of its two manors, which were each termed originally the 
manor of Landbeach, but which are now known, and have been 
known for several centuries, by the names of the manor of Cham- 
berlayne, and the manor of Bray ^. 

1 Rynier's F(edera, Vol. i. Part 2, p. 977. 

2 Clutterbuck's Hist, of Hertfordshire, Vol. in. pp. 3G9, &c. 

3 Blomefield's Hist, of Norfolk, Vol. iii. p. 738. 

^ Beltz's Memorials of the Order of the Garter, pp. 188, &c. 

^ Lysons' Cambridgeshire, p. 228; Hist, and Antiq. of Barnwell Abbey, 
Append, pp. 19, &c. 

" Another manor of Bray existed in Ickleton parish. About 1066, a great 
family of this name migrated from Normandy, where were three places called 
Brai. As a proof of the wide diffusion of the family, more than twenty dif- 



17 

And first, of the manor of Landbeach, or of Chamberlayne, 
or, according to the parish documents, of the college manor. 
Muccullus or Mucellus (the same person is meant in both places) 
held in 1086 six hides of land, that is, near upon seven hundred 
acres, of Picot, the sheriff. From these must have been con- 
stituted the manor in question, which may not have existed at 
all before Picot's time, and which he held par un Fe de Chivaler 
of William I. The family of the De Peverels were next the 
lords of the same manor under the king; and after them the 
De Peches, as their representatives through the female line. 

The De Beches, into whose possession the manor very soon 
came, most likely, by purchase, and early in the twelfth century, 
did not at first hold it directly of the king, but of the lord, and 
consequently bore the same relationship to him, which Muccullus 
did to Picot. For Aleyn de Beche is expressly recorded to have 
presented to the rectory of Landbeach in the reign of Hen. II., 
because he was the holder of the manor under Sir William de 
Peverel, Knt.; whilst Robert his son, 22 Hen. III. [1238], held 
it of Hamon de Peche. Again, in 1279, Walter le Chaumberlein 
held his knight's fee in Landbeach, that is, his manor, of Gilbert 
de Peche. On the other hand, Stephen le Bere, great grandson 
and representative of Helen de Beche, was declared in 1346 to 
hold the manor under the king. Moreover, when in 1369 the 
duke of Lancaster^ was allowed to give up to the college the 
estate he was temporarily in possession of for their benefit, he 
was asserted to hold it of the heirs of Helen, and even the terms, 

ferent coats of arms are assigned to it by the heralds. Two places in Eng- 
land are styled Bray, a parish in Berkshire, and an estate in the parish of 
St Just-in- Penwith, near Penzance. Lower's Putronym. Britan. p. 39. 

' John of Gaunt obtained by marriage the estates, as well as the titles, 
of his father-in-law Henry, great grandson of Hen. III., created duke of 
Lancaster in 1351. Henry, though no great benefactor to the college, is 
commonly regarded as its founder, from having materially assisted in procur- 
ing the royal licence for that purpose, which is dated 7 Novem. 26 Edw. III. 
[1352]. About the same time he became a member of the gild of Corpus 
Christi. 



18 

on which he held it of them, are added— per servicium unius 
floris rosarum [at the feast of S. John the Baptist] pro omnibus 
servieiis. Thus, therefore, the grant of the manor immediately 
from the king (Hen. III.) must have been made to her. 

Helen, who had succeeded to the manor of Landbeach, on 
the death of her brother Robert, about 1240, shortly afterwards 
conveyed it to her elder son, John le Bere, by whom it was 
re- conveyed to his mother for the term of her natural life. She 
then sold it for a hundred marks of silver, her son joining in the 
transaction, to John de FerlesS 31 Hen, III. [1247], but re- 
served to herself a rent-charge of two shillings a year for all 
services, payable at the feast of S. John the Baptist. Helen's 
seal to her deed of sale (which has no date) is a fleur-de-lis, 
with her name in an oval shape round it. John de Ferles, about 
1250, likewise made over to Sir Walter le Chaumberlein, Knt., 
of Brent Pelham, the same manor, together with all that capital 
messuage standing thereon, one carucate of land in the town of 
Landbech, &c., and the alternate patronage of the church ; or, 
as it is said in another document, he exchanged this property 
with him for other property. A rent-charge of two shillings a 
year was again reserved in favour of Helen, who soon, however, 
(describing herself to have been quondam uxor Galfrid le Bere,) 
released Sir Walter from the payment of it. 

Sir Walter le Chaumberlein, and his direct descendants, 
retained in their family this manors (of which they never had 
a o-rant from the crown.) for rather more than a century, after 
which it came by purchase into the possession of the college, 
and that body has ever since been the owner of it. Henry le 

^ Cole's MSS. Vol. xxxvi. p. 48 &. This John de Ferles granted to 
Godyn, Helen's younger son, certain lands, &c. he rendering annually a pair 
of gilt spurs worth sixpence. A Johannes de Ferles was sheriff of Berkshire 
10 Rich. T. [1109]. 

^ The customs of the manor under the Chamberlaynes are given in 
Cole's MSS. \o\. XXXVII. pp. ?A, .S.5. 



19 

Chauraberlein, 27 Edw, I. [1299], laid claim to the privilege of 
holding a View of frank-pledge, which he affirmed belonged to 
his ancestors and himself on the payment to the king every year 
of half a mark^ He delivered over the manor, 16 Edw. III. 
[1342], three years before his own death, to Sir Thomas, his 
son, and Elizabeth, his daughter-in-law, together with all his 
goods and chattels, for an annuity of one hundred pounds of 
silver^. Sir Thomas, 20 Edw. III., gave aid towards making 
the king''s eldest son, Edward the Black Prince, a knight, for one 
fee in Landbeach held of Stephen le Bere, which the same Ste- 
phen declared to be free from all royal services. 

Sir Thomas le Chaumberlein, Knt., S3 Edw. III. [1359], 
granted to Thomas de Eltisle, parson of the church of St I^Iichael 
de Long Stanton, master of the college, his manor of Landbeach, 
and likewise his manor of Depdale, in the county of Norfolk, for 
one hundred pounds a year during his life-^; but this annuity 
he soon after abandoned. Between 35 and 40 Edw. III. we 
have a variety of releases of the manor from the several par- 
ties interested therein. At length, 41 Edw. III., Sir John 
de la Lee, Knt.', and others, to whom the manor had been 
granted, 35 Edw. III. by Thomas Gray, and Alan de Buxhull, 
gave an acquittance to Thomas de Eltisle, kc, for cynquente 
marcs of silver, and for two hundred more, in full payment de 
sept cens for the manor. The business relating to this manor, 



^ Plucita de Quo Warranto, p. 102. 

'^ This sum seems di?proportionafcly large : Henry was at the time, 
perhaps, in a very unsatisfactory state of liealth, and not likely to live long. 
See p. IG. 

^ Sir Thomas did not survive the making of this grant more than two 
years. See p. 16. 

* Sir John, in right of his wife, was lord of the manor of Brent Pelham. 
Clutterbuck's Hist, of Hertfordshire, Vol. iii. p. 444, An account of a dis- 
pute between him, and Thomas Gray of the same place, respecting the 
inheritance of Sir Thomas le Chamberlaync may be seen in Cole's MSS. 
Vol. V. pp. 12, &c. and V'ol. xxxvi. p. 150 ft. 

C2 



20 

and to its legal transference into the hands of the college, was 
not yet completed. For in 1368 Thomas de Kenyngton, rector 
of S. Dunstan's near the Tower of London, delivered up to John, 
king of Castile and Leon, duke of Lancaster, and others, his 
manor of Landbeach, (which must have been made over to him- 
self by Thomas de Eltisle), with all its appurtenances. Also, by 
Inquisition duly taken 43 Edw. IIL [1369] the duke of Lan- 
caster was empowered to assign it over, as well as the advovvson 
of the church, to the college. Its clear annual value was xxj". 
xv*^. ob.;^ and there were in demesne 346^^ acres of arable land, 
each worth iiij''. a year. A number of releases of the property 
were made to the said duke of Lancaster, &c., reaching from 
42 Edw. III. to 9 Rich. II. [1368—1385]. A licence of mort- 
main for holding it was obtained at the expence of fifty marks, 
of which the last portion was not paid until 1391. The manor 
being now completely in the hands of the college, we find it 
leased by the master, John Kynne, 6 Aug. 11 Rich. II., to 
Thomas Oaldecote for one hundred shillings ^ of lawful money. 
The grant from the king to the college, the last act in this com- 
plicated business, took place 13 Rich. II. 

From 15 Rich. II. an estate called Berys, a portion of the 
demesne land of the above manor, had been in the hands of 
Thomas Bradefeld^, and Isabella his wife, by gift and feoffment 
of Sir William Castleacre, Knt., of Great Eversden. This estate 
consisted of 31 (or 41) acres of arable land, 8 acres of pasture, 
with 3 messuages. Having been assigned by Thomas Bradefeld, 
11 Hen. IV. [1410], to Richard de Billyngford, master, Thomas 
Bodneye, rector of Landbech, and John Tytleshale, clerk, fellow, 

^ Masters, Append, p. 44. 

' Masters, in his Collectanea de Landbeach, writes pounds ; but, since the 
gross yearly value of the whole was only xxiiij''. iij-i. ob., he ought certainly 
to have written shillings. Thomas Caldecote could simply have farmed the 
demesne land, if indeed he farmed the whole even of that. 

^ Thomas Bradfeld of Esthatlee is placed among the gentlemen of Cam- 
bridgeshire in 1433. 



21 

it was, the following year, formally delivered up to the college by 
the last two. Edmund Bendysh of Barenton [Barrington], 9 Hen. 
VI. [1430J, gave the master a release of this property. In 1434 
a licence of mortmain was also obtained by Bodneye and Tytles- 
hale for holding it. 

It is right now to say something respecting the extent of the 
possessions purchased by the college. A general Inquisition for 
Cambridgeshire was taken 22 Hen. III. [1238], when it was 
found, that Robert de Beche held one knight's fee of Ilamon de 
Peche : he paid within a year and a half for castle-guard half a 
mark, with ii^j^ as aid to the sheriff; and held v hides of land 
liable to taxation. At another general Inquisition held at Cam- 
bridge 7 Edw. I [1279], Walter le Chaumberlein was found to 
hold in Landbech one knighfs fee together with a meadow, and 
the [alternate] patronage of the church. Walter held this of 
Gilbert de Peche, and he of the king : he gave half a mark to the 
sheriff as warpenes', and was liable to taxation^. The master was 
found, 6 Hen. VI. [1427], to hold one knight"'s fee: moreover, 
21 Edw, IV. [1481], he paid pontage^ for five hides of land. The 
property, therefore, which the college bought, and which consti- 
tuted the manor, consisted of one knight''s fee, or five hides of 
land, that is, of 550 acres. It was termed a knight\s fee, when 
considered in its relation to the superior lord; as regarded all 
other parties, the amount of land the fee contained was alone 
noticed. When in 1 666^ however, a statement was made respect- 
ing the property in the parish, the college estate was thus de- 
scribed : — a homestall, two tenements, 145| acres of land, sheep- 
walk for 600 [720] sheep, and £20 from quit-rents. A large 

^ Wart, Warth, or Ward, pennies meant money paid in lieu of keeping 
castle-guard at Cambridge. 

2 Rot. Hundred, Tom. ii. p. 458. The liability to taxation had reference, 
as before, to the five hides of land, or the knight's fee. 

3 Money for the repairing, or the rebuilding, of the great bridge at Cam- 
bridge. The parties benefited by the bridge were bound to pay for the 
accommodation. 



99 



portion of their purchase was then at all events in the hands of 
the copyholders. On the inclosure of Landbeach the college 
allotment amounted to 289 a, 1 r. 24 p. ; while the land held under 
the manor was 486 a. 2 r. SO p. 

The ancient court rolls are still in the treasury of the college, 
but they only begin with 2 Edw. Ill, [1328], or not more than 
thirty-one years before the manor was sold to them by Sir 
Thomas le Chamberlayne. From that date to the present they 
appear to be nearly complete. 

Though the college had at first let out their demesne land, they 
soon began to stock it for their own benefit. As early as 1399 
such was the case, when four oxen cost the somewhat high price 
of iij^ iiij^ For the estate at Landbeach is said under that year 
to have supphed them with corn, and other provisions. A bailiff 
similarly managed it on their behalf until towards the time of 
Matthew Parker. 

Two daughters of John lord Talbot, first earl of Shrewsbury, 
Elizabeth, dowager duchess of Norfolk, and Eleanor, relict of 
Sir Thomas Boteler, Knt., heir of Ralph lord Sudelye, (of whom 
the latter died in 1466, though the former was alive in 1489,) 
were great benefactors to the college. Part of some money, 
which those ladies bestowed upon it, was applied to the purchasing 
of a stock of sheep for their Landbeach property. The profits 
arising from the sheep were appointed to be annually divided 
between the master and fellows on S. Brice's day (Nov. 13th), 
the day on which the sisters had a solemn commemoration. In 
a letter written by the master, Thomas Cosyn, to the ryght 
worshypfuU and specially be trustyd Master John Sentwary, 
President^, occur the following words : — Master Sentwary qwhen 
it shall forteyn yliow to wryyt to me the neest tyme, I pray 
yhow send to me qwheyther yhe have maad yheet ony barghen for 
Sheepe to be at Beche to the wheel of the Colleg, and for the 
increes of such mony as yhe have knowlage ; and iif yhe have 

' iMustery, Append, p. 31. 



23 

not as yhett for causys resonabyll sped the seyd thyngg, I 
trust, in tyme to com, yff it be thowt profitabyll, yhe wyll. 
Whilst William Sovvode was master, there happened such a 
general rot amongst the sheep iat Landbeacb, that hardly any 
remained ; but this loss was soon repaired by his successor. 

We come at length to the period, when the college changed 
their plans, and again commenced letting out their Landbeach 
estate. Mr John Baker, uterine brother of Matthew Parker, held 
a lease of the lordship, or demesne land, at the annual rent of 
viij''. ix^ iiij'*. He yielded up this lease to the college before it 
was half run out, in order to provide for the payment of twenty 
scholarships at xiij^ iiij*^. each, and for giving a like sum to the 
master. The lease so yielded up is asserted to have been worth 
four hundred marks, and the yearly value of the property to have 
been raised to xxij". xvij^ iiij''. Mr Cory, when rector of the 
parish, had a lease of the same lordship. It would seem to have 
been no unusual thing for the rector to hold a similar lease ; 
indeed, Mr Masters' strongly advocated its being regularly 
assigned him, as a means of making ' a considerable addition to 
his income.' 

The other manor of Landbeach, or the manor of Bray, which 
had its origin in the land once held by the two cartwrights of the 
king, has been in many hands. Hugh [Hugo] de Bray'^ was 
the owner of it, 14 Hen. III. [1229]. Eight years later he is 
also described as holding one knight"'s fee in Landbeach. An- 
other Hugh, most probably his son, held, 2 Edw. I. [1274], a 
knight's fee of [Aubrey de Vere] earl of Oxford, and he of the 
bishop of Ely^ and he of the king; and paid pontage. At the 
general Inquisition taken 7 Edw. I. Agnes, daughter of Hugh 

1 P. 207. 

2 Radulphus de Bray was sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire, 
1 Hen. III. [1216]; and within the next six years held the same office in 
Bedfordshire and Oxfordshire. The chief seat of the family was at Eaton 
Bray in Bedfordshire. 

•^ The clnirch must have recovered those rights over the land, of which in 
103G it had been deprived. 



24 

de Bray, was said to hold one knight's fee and a half, with a 
meadow, under the same tenure as her father ; she exercised in 
addition the right of holding a View of frank-pledge, but the 
witnesses present could not tell on what authority. In 1299 
William de Baldok claimed the power to hold a free court, and a 
View of frank-pledge, with the assize [mensuras] of bread and ale, 
in Landbeach, in right of his wife Agnes, whose ancestors, as he 
affirmed, had enjoyed these privileges uninterruptedly from before 
the memory of man\ Earl Aubrey [Albericus] held, 31 Edw. I. 
[1303], in Beche a knight's fee, which Gilbert de Bray then 
held under him, of the fee of the bishop of Ely. On the death 
of Agnes, and her husband, the property must have gone to another 
branch of the De Bray family. Hugh de Bray paid aid, 20 Edw. 
III. [1346J, for making the king's eldest son a knight, on account 
of one fee in Landbeach, which formerly William de Baldok had. 
Either he, or a son with the usual Christian name of the family, 
may have been in possession of the estate at least twenty years 
later, since a Hugh de Bray was living in Landbeach 40 Edw. 
III. At a general Inquisition taken G Hen. VI, [1427], William 
Keterich was found to be owner of one knight's fee held lately by 
Hugh de Bray. His son William held the manor of Bray of 

^ Rot. Hundred. Tom. ii. p. 453 ; PhicUa de Quo Wan-anto, p. 105. 
Ralph de Baldok was bishop of London and lord chancellor in 1307; and 
Robert de Baldok, archdeacon of Middlesex, held also the latter office in 
1323. William de Baldok and his wife were buried, and about the year 
1300, at Tempsford in Bedfordshire, of which parish Hugh de Bray, her 
father, had acquired the manor by marriage Avith the only daughter and 
heiress of Roger de la Leye. In the north aisle of the church lies a very 
ancient incised slab agreeing in character with the time of their deaths, on 
which are the full-length figures of a man and his wife ; as around its verge 
was an inscription in Lombardic capitals, though the only part remaining 
now is— [ICI : GISENJT : ...A... DE : BALDOK : ET : AGNEYS : SA 
: FAME : QE : F : LES : ALMES : PRIERA : XL : JOVRS : DE : 
P. DOVN : A[VERA]. At each corner of the area of the slab is a cross 
resembling those with which altar-stones were marked. Lord Campbell's 
Lires of the Lord Chancellors of England, Vol. i. pp. 164, 177, edit. 1857; 
Nichols' Topogrtipher and Genealogist, Vol. i. p. 155 : see also Fisher's Collect. 
Hist. Gcncal. and Topng.fjr Bedfordshire, where the slab is engraved. 



25 

John, earl of Oxford, by the half part of one knight's fee, 12 
Edw. IV. [1472]. Eiehard Keterich, grandson of the first 
Wilham, 19 Edw. IV., held the same manor of John, bishop of 
Ely\ in the right of his church, by the service of one knight's 
fee. In 1497, Wilham Rakclyffe was lord of the manor of 
Bray. The family of Kirby soon afterwards became lords of this 
manor. John Kirby held it under the earl of Oxford, and 
somewhere probably about 1500. John Kirby has been delibe- 
rately placed thus early, though he is related to have held under 
Earl Edward^ who came to the title only in 1562. Apparently, 
there is some mistake, as of Edward for John. Robert Kirkeby, 
armiger, son of Thomas, and step-son of William Rakclyffe, was 
an inhabitant of the parish in 1506, in which year he witnessed 
a document concerning charity land^. He died in 1521, and was 
then clearly the possessor of the manor, as is proved by one of 
the directions of his will. The manor was held 9 Eliz. [1567] 
by a variety of persons, viz. Margery, wife of Edward Steward, 
Margaret, wife of Ralphe Hall, and Michael her son, and Eliza- 
beth, the wife of George Hasell, coheiresses of Richard Kirk by, 
the late lord, who was buried 16th February, 1566-7^. The 
manor was at that time held of Edward, earl of Oxford, by the 
service of one knight's fee. Peter Palmer, arm.iger, owned 
the manor 36 Eliz. [1594], when we find Matthias, son and 
heir of John Martyn*, gentleman, of Barton, declared to be 
the holder of one-ninth part of it under him, paying a penny in 
lieu of all services. Subsequently it came into the hands of 
Sir John Barker, Bart, of Grimston Hall, Trimley, near Ips- 
wich, whose name occurs in conjunction with it in 1659 and 

^ John Morton, afterwards archbishop of Canterbury, a cardinal, and 
lord chancellor. ^ See p. 41. 

3 For an account of two lawsuits in which this family and its property 
were concerned, see Bendloe's Reports, pp. 126, &c., and Proceedings in Chan- 
cery in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, Vol. in. p. 55. 

* Both fother and son were buried in Barton church, the former in 1593, 
the latter in 1G13. 



26 

1665. The manor was next purchased by WiUiam Worts, or 
Woorts, Esq. of S. Catharine's college, M.A. 1702 \ Mr Worts 
died in 1709, leaving his estate at Landbeach, (now worth £1200 
a year,) on the death of his two aunts, Day and Reeves, to five 
trustees, for certain purposes connected with the town and univer- 
sity of Cambridge, particularly with the Public Library, to the 
use of which the surplus was to be applied". The manor fell to 
the university about 1728, and, of course, still continues in their 
possession. 

As regards the size of the manor of Bray, from the first 
the owner of it is said to hold sometimes one knight's fee, 
sometimes one knight's fee and a half. Agnes, filia de Hugo 
de Bray, held, 7 Edw. I [1279], one knight's fee and a half; and 
yet her father, five years before, had only one knight's fee. 
Besides, Hugh de Bray is reported to hold the same quantity 
of land, that Agnes held, 22 Edw. III. [1348]. Again, John 
Kirby held the manor of the earl of Oxford by the service of one 
knight's fee and a half, as was recorded in the book of knight's 
fees belono-inof to that nobleman. In 1567 the manor consisted 
of 10 messuages, 12 tofts, 50 acres of arable land, 200 acres of 
pasture, 100 acres of heath, and free foldage in Landbeach, 
Milton, and Cottenham; 100 shillings rent in Landbeach, Water- 
beach, Milton, Impington, Girton, Cottenham, and Hokynton. 
From a parish book we learn, that it comprised in 1666 a 
horaestall and dove-house, with 205 acres of land, and sheep-gates 
for 600 [720] sheep. Since, however, nothing is there said 
respecting quit-rents, the land held under the manor could not 
be much, and probably never had been. When the parish 
was inclosed, the allotment made to Worts' Trustees contained 

1 His father, also named William, had been fellow of Caius college, and 
one of the esquire bedells. Mr Cory had a lawsuit with Mr Worts in 1704 
relating to a right of foldage, 'worth in the judgement of farmers £5 per 
annum.' Masters, p. 180. 

^ Cooper's Annals of Cambridge, Vol. iv. p. 80. 



27 

687 a. 2 r. 34 p. ; the copyhold land held of them, as lords of the 
manor of Bray, being only 26 a. 1 r. 21 p. 

In October 15i9, during the incumbency of Matthew Parker, 
a terrier of the whole parish was drawn up collatione librorura 
omnium, veterum, et recentiorum, et cum diligenti perambulatione 
tenentium, maxime fide dignorum, ibidem commorantium. This 
terrier^ not only assigns 406 acres of arable land to the college, 
but represents Armiger (the Squire), by which title Kirkby is 
meant, to possess 429 acres. Now as the former number did 
not express the whole of the college possessions in Landbeach, 
so neither did the latter the whole of those in the hands of the 
Kirkby family. It would serve no object, however, to dwell upon 
the point, and to attempt to explain it. Whether the manor 
of Bray consisted of one knight's fee, or of one knight's fee and 
a half, is of small moment ; so likewise is it, whether the knight's 
fee in the latter case was of equal extent with the knight's fee 
in the former. Sufficient is it in this place to affirm, that the 
two properties were, and always had been, very similar. Hence 
Henry le Chaumberlein, and Anger de Bray, son of Hugh, were 
found at a general Inquisition, 9 Edw. II. [1815], to be the 
lords of the village ; as also, (and it is more to our present 
purpose,) in 1530 the college and Eichard Kyrkeby declared 
themselves to be y^ lordes of y'** towne. 

One half of the parish was given over to the grazing of cattle, 
which condition of things went on down to the time of the in- 
closure. In the middle of the seventeenth century a case of 
encroachment arose with respect to the sheep-walks, and a 
statement of the matter was drawn up preparatory to its being 
submitted to Robert Bernard, Esq. serjeant-at-law 2, for his 

^ One kind of fen measurement used in it is styled a butt ; and three 
butts made an acre. 

^ He was created serjeant-at-law by a vote of Parliament 80th October, 
1CA8, and 22nd June, 1(349, an Act passed for him to be judge of the Isle of 
Ely. Wliitelock's Memorials of the English Affairs, pp. 340, 410. 



28 

opinion. An extract from this document will furnish some in- 
teresting information on the subject. 

In Landbeach there are 4 several [separate] open feilds of 
arable land, w'' in their several seasons, according to y® custome 
of the Town, are commonable for Sheep and other Cattle. 

In the s*^ Town there are several Lordships or JSIannors, and 
a great quantity of Waste ground ; but who is the cheif Lord of 
the Town, is not certainly known. The Master and Fellows of 
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, are Lords of one Manner, and 
S' John Barker, Barronet, is Lord of another Manner. 

In this waste ground there hath been time out of mind 
4 several Sheep-walks distinguished, and certainly known, one 
from another. The Colledge hath one, S' John Barker 2, and 
the Colledge Coppyhold Tenants in that Town hath a fourth. 

The bounds of these Sheep-walks are so certainly known, that 
the Sheep, that are in one of the walks, never have used to come 
into either of the other ; but when or how this waste ground was 
thus divided into several Sheep-walks, there is no mention, neither 
is it certainly known to w*^ Manner any part of this wast ground, 
where the Sheep-walks are, do belong. 

The Sheep belonging to these several walks have usually, in 
some times of the year, been driven out of their respective walks 
into some of the common arable feilds, but the Sheep, that belong 
to one walk, have not used to be driven over another walke either 
into y- common feild, or otherwise. 

Within a few months last past, and never before, the Sheppards 
belonging to S' John Barker's Sheep-walks have several times 
driven their Sheep out of their own walk over and thorough the 
Sheep-walk belonging to the Colledge tenants into one of the 
4 arable feilds, and intend to do so still ; \\^ in wett weather will 
do much hurt to the ground, and be great damage to the Sheep 
Masters or owners, the Colledge tenants ; if they may drive them 
through, they may as well feed them there, as is conceived. 

The Question is, what remedy the Colledge tenants shall have, 
and ajrainst whom. 



29 

The four open fields, to which the preceding case refers, were 
termed Banworth field i, Mill field, Scachbowe field, and Dunstall 
field; and they contained 121, 303, 232, and 259 acres respec- 
tively, according to the terrier of 1549, for other documents re- 
present them a little differently. There was also a fifth field in 
Landbeach, but, from its name. Meadow field, it was chiefly 
pasture ; and this contained 186 acres. 

The sheep-gates, as given in a list of them written early in 
the eighteenth century, amounted to 3984, or rather to more, 
for it is added : — Note, that every Hundred Sheep Gate is 
sixscore, tho it is not reckoned so in this Account. Of these 
the College Walk claimed 1014 ; the Town Walk, which belonged 
to the College copyholders, 1020; the Home Walk 960; and 
Barhill Walk 990. Of course, the flocks were rarely, if ever, kept 
up at their fuU number. 

Coming down to later times the following is the description 
of his parish, which Mr Masters may have left behind him, and 
which Mr Burroughes intended to print : — Landbeach is of a good 
natural soil : yet, although cultivated by judicious farmers, its 
produce is unequal to that of some of the neighbouring parishes. 
The quantity of the arable land is less than ] 000 acres, whilst 
that of the inclosed pastures does not greatly exceed 100. There 
is a fine common nearly equal in quantity to the arable fields, which 
inclosed, and well cultivated, would be superior to them in quality, 
and not less profitable, than in its present state, for feeding horses, 
cows, sheep, &c. The cows may amount to upwards of 300, and 
the sheep to 2600, dropping about 900 lambs each year. These 
lambs are now obliged to be driven to a great distance for shelter 
and subsistence in the winter, at a very considerable trouble and 
expence ; and the cows to be succoured by hay and fodder brought 
from the villages around. An inclosure of a considerable part at 
the least of these commons would be highly beneficial, and will, 

1 In Banworth field was a rising ground called Sickman's hill : Mr Mas- 
ters supposed the true name to be Socman's hill. See p. 9. 



30 

I should hope, be soon adopted by those, who are wise enough to 
discover their own interest therein. 

The inclosure soon came, and the rights of common, as well 
as the sheep-gates, were abolished. The requisite Act of Parlia- 
ment was passed 47 Geor. III. cap. 55, [1807], Mr. Burroughes 
being rector. The award of the commissioners is dated 15th 
December, 1813. From it we perceive, that in the parish of 
Landbeach are 2207a. 1 r. 27 p.; that of this quantity 1607a. 
3r. 21 p. were freehold, 535a. Or. 15 p. copyhold, and 64a. Ir. 
31 p. taken up with the turnpike-road, the public and private roads, 
the drains, and town streets. Besides, of the copyhold land 
486 a. 2r. SO p. then belonged to the manor of Chamberlayne, 
26 a. Ir. 21 p. to the- mar.or of Bray, 20 a. 2 r. 17 p. to the 
manor of Waterbeach cum Denney, and 1 a. 1 r. 27 p. to the 
manor of Milton. The Waterbeach cum Denney land was allotted 
in lieu of what had once been a part of the manor of Denney, 
which in early times, and down to ]351, was quite distinct from 
that of Waterbeach. It has just been enfranchised under the 
provisions of a recent Act of Parliament, the same Act being also 
in course of operation throughout the whole parish. 

In 1340, when Edw. III. obtained from parliament important 
aid for two years towards carrying on the war, which would 
naturally follow his assuming the title of king of France, Land- 
beach was at first required to contribute xj". x^ ; the sum really 
levied, however, upon the inhabitants was only vj". xv^, several 
items having been allowed in abatement^. Under the date of 
February, 5 Edw. VI. [1551], the taxe of the hole towne was 
iiij". iiij''., whereof the Colledge tenantes xxx\ ; Kirbyes Lordshipp 
xxx^; Freeholders [who had amongst them 145 acres] xx^ iiij*'. 
This could merely represent the money actually raised, not the 
amount of the assessment. We find the property in the parish 
assessed to the relief of the poor at £801. lOs. in 1760, some 

^ Antiq>ia7-uin Communicfitinns, Cambridge Antiquarian Society, Vol. i. 
p. 12. 



31 

years before the inelosure. Now the rateable value is set at 
£3126. 5s. wliilst the gross annual rental is £3427. 9s. Sd. 

The number of the inhabitants of Landbeach must always 
have been very small : at present, after the inelosure, and 
consequent cultivation, of the common, fen, and waste, land, 
when more labourers are necessarily employed, it is far from 
large even for the size of the parish. We learn from a MS, in 
the library of Caius college^, that the sum annually paid to the 
bishop of Ely in 1517 for Ely, or Smoke, farthings, (which went 
to the support of the altar of S. Peter in the cathedral.) was 6hd. 
Since this sum consisted of as many farthings, as there were 
houses, allotting, of course, one chimney to each, they amounted 
to twenty-six; and then, if we reckon five to every one of the 
dwellings, which mode of computation cannot be far wrong, the 
parish contained just 130 persons. John Micklebourgh, at the 
bishop of Ely''s visitation, 16th July, 1728, reported fifty-one to be 
the number of families in his parish, out of which there was no 
more than one of dissenters. In 1781 Mr. Masters stated them 
to be only 49. At the taking of the census in 1851 the inhabitants 
reached 526, but in 1861 emigration had reduced them to 441. 

Three residents in Landbeach were returned among the gentry 
of Cambridgeshire, 12 Hen. VI. [1433], by the commissioners 
appointed to draw up a list of them, namely, Johannes Keterich, 
Henricus Attelanc, and Johannes Knith^. The first must have 
been a relative of the lord of the manor of Bray. Thomas Lane, 
D.D., master of St. Peter's college from 1431 to 1473, may have 
been one of Henry Attelane's family. The third name had been 
long connected with the parish. At the general Inquisition of 
7 Edw. I. [1279], Gillebertus le Knyt, (Anglo-Saxon cnyht, 
knight, that is, servant,) who on the part of Landbeach was pre- 
sent to give evidence, was found to hold half a knight's fee of 

1 No, 170, p. 70, See some remarks on Smoke Farthings in Nichols' 
Topographer and Genealogist, Vol. iii. pp. 14.5, 146. 
^ Fuller's iroW/j?V;A- o/jE:??(//rm</, Vol. I. pp. 59, 245. 



32 

Walter le Chaumberlein with a meadow, paying vij**. as sheriffs 
aid, and xF. for castle-guard within a year and a half; and to 
owe scutage to his superior lord, John Knyth, he, probably, 
whom we have just read about, held 64 acres of the demesne land 
of the manor of Chamberlayne, 5 Hen. IV. [1404]. About 1450 
the master carpenter of the village was named Nic. Toftys, He 
entered into an agreement with the cherche revys of S. Benedict 
in Cambridge for a new roof to their church with ornaments 
of angels\ &c. At a Court Leet of the manor of Waterbeach 
cum Denney, 15 Edw. IV. [1475], D"" Landbeche, was presented 
by reason of his cattle trespassing in the wheat; but where he 
dwelt is not specified '^ With respect to the family of Gonel, 
Gonnelle, or Gonhill, the name occurs in the parish register in 
October 1538, as early as it was possible for it so to do. A 
member of this family formerly rendered himself very conspi- 
cuous, and is well known now, by his intimate friendship and 
correspondence with Erasmus, whose companion in study he 
was, when at Cambridge. He is said to have been vir omnis 
humanioris literaturre peritissimus, and at one time a public pro- 
fessor in the university. This William Gonel, whom Erasmus 
declares to be non amicum, sed prorsus animse dimidium mese, 
filled the office of tutor in Sir Thomas More's family, and after- 
wards belonged to the household of Cardinal Wolsey, it may be, 
as one of his domestic chaplains. He was collated by Bishop 
West, 6th September 1517, to the rectory of Conington, where he 
lived until his death, 28th August 1560. He is reported to 
Matthew Parker in 1548 to have made one of a dignified univer- 
sity party, who were at ' a drinking, which was with joles of fresh 
salmon^,' &c. Matthew Gonell, the last of the male line, but 
hardly a descendant from the William of Erasmus, died at 

^ Masters, Append, p. 7. 

^ Was he president of Denney Abbey ? 

^ Correspondence of Parker, p. 88, Park. See. ; Kniglit's Life of Erasmus, 
pp. 47, 177, 178 ; Cooper's Athen. Cantab. Vol. i. pp. 94, 537 ; Erasmi Opera, 
Tom. III. pp. 109, 148, 149, 237, 571, 575, edit. 1703. 



33 

Landbeach a bachelor in 1793. The name of Taylor, or Tayler, 
like that of Gonel, has been common in the parish for a very 
long period, and still exists there. William Taylor was one of 
the churchwardens for 1540, and the two succeeding years. The 
first of the family, who, having bought property at Landbeach, 
settled on it, was, most likely, a son of Sir William Taylor, 
Knt., lord mayor of London in 1469. He could hardly have been 
the lord mayor himself. Sir AVilliam was son of John Taylor of 
Eccleston in Staffordshire, a member of the Grocers'" company, 
and sheriff of London in 1 454. He gave tenements to discharge 
Cordwainers' street ward of fifteenths. He bore, or, a fess dan- 
cettee, ermine, between three eagles displayed, sable^ We meet 
with William Agnes in 1588, as a contributor of £25 by way of 
loan to Queen Elizabeth, in order to enable her to put the king- 
dom in a condition to resist invasion^. 

The village stands on what must originally have been the 
only road from Cambridge to Ely through Milton. Afterwards, 
so far as concerned the means of communication between that 
parish, and Stretham ferry, a second road gradually came into use, 
which ran close by the manor house of Milton, and avoided the 
village of Landbeach altogether, joining the old road at a building 
called Goose house; though, at first, merely with the consent 
of the owners of the land, over which it passed. We find it 
alluded to, and described, in the terrier of ] 549, where one portion 
of Medow feild is said to abut super quandam semitam ex per- 
missione ducentem a Medilton Crosse (near [Water] Beche 
medovve) versus Dennye. This permission gradually grew, it 
seems, into a right. By the middle of the eighteenth century the 
state of the whole line of road had become so unsatisfactory, 
that the attention of persons desirous of using it was necessarily 
turned thereto, and the question even of forming a new one began 

1 Stow's Surveif, Book v. p. 123, edit. 1720. Thomas Parsons of Ely, 
about 1420, left land, now worth 11500 a year, for the payment of the 
tenths and fifteenths of that city. 

^ Cooper's Annals of Camhridije, Vol. ii. p. 4-52. 



34 

to be agitated ; at the same time, however, it should be remarked, 
that, except in summer, the traffic between Cambridge and Ely 
had been, and still was, carried on chiefly by water. The Eev. 
James Bentham, author of The History of Ely Cathedral, entered 
very warmly into this matter, and strove much to promote it, with 
tlie approval and encouragement of his diocesan, Bishop IMawson. 
He printed some Queries in 1757, in one of which he asked — 
Whether there is not an ancient road\ the site of which in some 
places, and the materials in others, would be of great service for 
making a new one. The subject was properly taken up, and 
application soon made to parliament for the requisite powers to 
do what was necessary. Nevertheless, the Act passed in 17<33 
did not authorize the formation of an entirely new road ; rather, 
the road was appointed to run generally on its old site. Thus 
the Act was granted for 'Repairing, Widening, Turning, and 
Keeping in repair, the road from Cambridge to Ely, and from 
thence to Soham." It also described the then existing road, as 
being ' in some parts narrow and incommodious, and in others 
annoyed by water for want of bridges ; ' and added, ' that it would 
be more commodious for passengers, if some parts of the said 
road were turned.'' Besides, the Act took notice of the double 
line of road from Milton to Goose house, styling that, which was 
to be made good, and to constitute, as it does, a portion of the 
improved road from Cambridge to Ely, 'the Right Hand 
Branch."* 

In consequence of the passing of this Act, feelings of great 
displeasure and annoyance arose in the minds of the inhabitants 
of Landbeach, and gave occasion to much controversy. Mr 
Masters took the lead in the proceedings, which ensued, and 
which were not so successful, as it was wished they should be. 
From the foregoing account it will be seen, that the opponents 
of the road could not reasonably have expected success, because 
the statement put forth by them, in some of its allegations, had 

1 P. 17. He alluded to the Akcman Street. 



35 

no foundation in fact. What Mr Masters, and his parishioners, 
complained of, was — that, instead of the road continuing, as it 
ought, to run through the village upon the old road, it took 
quite a different direction, thus introducing into the parish four 
miles of road in the place of two — that it was carried over a part 
of the commons, and meadows, where there was no road for 
carriages before, or only a sort of vague road to Denney and 
Causeway-end farms ^ — that some of the land, from Milton hedges 
towards the Windmill 2, was properly several ground, and private 
property, from Ladyday to Lammas, when it became common — 
that the herbage of nearly twenty acres, worth, at least, one 
pound per acre, was taken up [for the new road] — and, particu- 
larly, that they, being utterly unable to receive any private benefit 
or advantage, as a parish, from the new road, were yet re- 
quired, especially by a supplemental Act procured two years 
later, to do statute work thereon for a certain number of days, 
at first, one, but subsequently three. 

The above remarks relate to a road, which was rendered 
good and serviceable, though strongly against the will of 
the leading inhabitants of Landbeach ; on the contrary, the 
observations about to be added are connected with a road, 
which, chiefly through the neglect of the inhabitants, was 
omitted to be made, greatly as it would have benefited them. 
For it is much to be regretted, that, on the inclosure of the 
parish, a proper carriage-road was not formed, in accordance 
with the directions of the inclosure commissioners, from the 
east end of Cock fen'^ lane, and along the Roman road called 
the Akeman Street, unto the point, where the latter runs 
into, and crosses, the high road between Impington and Mil- 
ton. Such a road would have been a considerable conve- 
nience at that time; it would, however, be far more so now, 

^ Both of these Avere in ^Fatcrbeach. 

^ This was also in "W'aterbcach. A post ■windmill still occupies the 
ancient spot. 

^ Cock fen, containing only five aci'cs and a half, was a part of Mill field. 

D2 



36 

when there is a raihvay station at Histon. Seven years ago 
AVorts'' trustees convened a pubHc meeting at Cambridge, for the 
purpose of ascertaining, whether or not it was possible to accom- 
phsh the matter by vohmtary contributions from the parties 
interested therein, that is, from the inliabitants of MiKon, and 
Impington, but particularly of Landbeach, they themselves offer- 
ing towards the work the handsome sum of .£300. To this 
appeal the rector of the last named parish, the Rev. John 
Tinkler, alone responded. Consequently, only a portion of the 
road has been rendered fit for common traffic, in fact, only that 
portion, which concerns the parish of Landbeach. The sum 
expended was nearly £000, of which £60 came from Mr Tinkler, 
and the remainder from the trustees. The road, so far as it has 
been already carried, is an undoubted advantage to the tenants of 
the Worts'", and rectory, estates, but is entirely useless to the 
general public, as a means of conmiunication, at all seasons, and 
under all circumstances, between Waterbcach, as well as Land- 
beach, and the villages of Impington, Iliston, &c. 

The village is composed entirely of one long street. The 
green has quite disappeared since, and in consequence of, the 
inclosure of the ])arish. It was situated opposite the range of 
cottages chiefly given up to school purposes ; and could hardly 
have been of any large size. At the Milton end of Landbeach is 
a Meeting-house belonging to the Particular Baptist Connexion. 
It is rather a handsome building of its kind ; and was erected in 
1854 to take the place of a smaller building still remaining close 
to it, and, in spite of the bodies buried beneath its floor, used for 
a granary and gig-house. Only two houses exist worthy of being 
noticed in relation to the former condition of the parish. One, of 
wood and plaster, a little way removed from the village street, and, 
until lately, the residence of the farmer of a portion of the Worts' 
estate ^ Another, of red brick, at the north end of the village 

^ The De Brays, most likely, resided on, or close to, this spot ; as also, 
the subsequent owners of their manor, or those who farmed under them. 



1 



37 

tenanted originally by the Taylor family, but now simply by a farm 
labourer : both, perhaps, are of the same date, which may be 
early in the seventeenth century. The other more respectable 
houses, but quite modern, are the manor-house, very near the 
site of the ancient abode of the De Beches, and the Le Cham- 
berlaynes, occupied by William AVilson Hall, Esq., with the 
houses, which Messrs. Headly and Ambrose inhabit, of whom 
the latter, by a recent arrangement, farms nearly all the Worts' 
property. 

The feast day has always followed that of the parish of 
AVaterbeach, and underwent a similar change at the same time. 
For the parochial authorities of both places united to insert an 
advertisement in the Cambridge Chronicle of 1st May, 1779, 
informing whomsoever it might concern, that, though the feast 
had been usually kept on the second ^londay in July, it would for 
the future be kept on the last Monday in May. 

The village used to be adorned with a stone cross, as we 
have seen Milton^ was, and as Stretham still is. It was in 
existence early in the eighteenth century : what probably formed 
the base of the calvary is now placed close to the conunon 
pump, and may be in its original position. These way-side 
crosses were generally simple structures, raised on a few steps 
called a calvary, (because intended to represent mount Calvary,) 
and consisted of a tall shaft with a cross on the top. In illus- 
tration of the uses, to which they were sometimes applied, we 
may refer to the will of John Cole of Thelnetham in Suffolk, 
dated 1527, who orders a newe crosse to be made and sett vpp 
in a particular spot, where the gospell ys sayde vpon Ascension 
Euen ; and who also leaves the yearlie Fearme of iij acres londe, 
to fynde yearelie a busshell and halffe of malte to be browne, and 

^ See p. .33. A stone piit sideways into the gi-ound, a short distance 
cast of the blacksmith's shop, is often considered to be a portion of this cross ; 
but it wouhl rather appear, on examination, to have belonged to something- 
else : it must be, however, very near, where the cross actually did stand. 



38 

a bussliell of whete to be baked, to fynde a drinkinge vpon 
Ascention Euen euerlastinge for the parisshe of Thelnethara 
to drinke at the crosse aforenamed, the ouerpkis, if any, to 
be delte [distributed] emongeste . the poore people, where most 
need ys^ 

The village formerly possessed a town-house, or guild-hall. We 
have a distinct reference to it on an old piece of paper : — M'^ that 
the towne house was byldid at the common charge of the Towne- 
shipp of Landebech in the x i x ycare of y*^ reigne of oure late 
Souereigne Lorde Kinge Henry the eight [1527^, as apperethe by 
thaccoumpte of one lloger Warde, and Thomas ^lunsey, then 
churche Wardens, Maister Kirkby then being present. Maister 
Kirkby, in right of the manor of Eray, had put in some claim to 
the ownership of this house ; likewise, to the ownership of the 
land set apart for the church lot in Frith fen'-. Accordingly, it 
was declared in the vestry held at Easter 15.38, that the rent of 
the howse and Londe was accoumptid to the parysshe by William 
Gonnelle and ^^'illiam Driver [churchwardens], and so followino-e 
in divers accoumpts. It was similarly declared in 1540, under the 
signatures of AV^illiam Taylor, and AVilliam Thorlowe, church- 
wardens, that viij'' backward quyt rent of the same howse had 
been paid to the parsonne'', and Maister Kirkby ; and, again, two 
years later, that the churchwardens, whilst rendering to the 
parish an account of the rent, always required a deduction of j'' for 
quit-rent to each of the said parties. An arrangement had been 
made about this quit-rent, S^"' May, 22 Hen. VHI. [1530], 
shortly after the house was built, between William Sowode, and 
Richard Kyrkeby. The document, written by the former, runs 
thus ;— y' was agreyd by t wen both y*-' lordes of y'' towne y* from hens 
y'' commeners of y'' towne shall pay to ayther of y'^ lordes euery yere 

' Tymms' Bury Willa, p, IIB. 
'^ See p. 45. 
AV'illiam Sowode received this money, as master of the college, and 
therefore, lord of tlie manor of Chamherlaync, not, as rector of the parish. 



39 

j ' for y'^ gylde hall. The purpose, for which this building was 
erected, may be learnt from the following passage out of Brand's 
Observations on Popular Antiquities^ : — In every parish was a 
church-house, to which belonged spits, crocks, and utensils for 
dressing provision. Here the housekeepers met, and were merry, 
and gave their charity. The house, not being always wanted by 
the inhabitants, was let, and the rent brought into the parish 
account. 

THE CHARITIES. 

At the end of the second register-book is preserved the last 
leaf of an old missal once pertaining to the church of Landbeach, 
on which are recorded these four benefactions made to the parish 
in former days by as many benevolent individuals ; the writing is 
of different periods, and ancient, particularly, as regards the 
first gift. 

Hoc sciendum et pcrpetue meniorie recondendum, quod Johan- 
nes Swayn- de Landbcch obiit xiiij"' die mensis Maij anno Domini 
millesimo cccc'"". xxxix", (^ui legavit ad fabricam ecclesie omnium 
sanctorum de eadem villa vnara acrarn terre arabilis jaccntem 
diuisim in campo, qui vocatur Scacchebowe furlong. In suffra- 
gium anime sue, et animarum Johanne uxoris sue, parentum et 
benefactorum. The boundaries of the land are accurately marked. 
A trust for the management of this acre was created on the 
last day of the same month of May, the members of it being 
Johannes Clerk, capellanus, and Henricus Lane, to whom were 
subsequently added Henricus Swayne, and Johannes Bedenham. 

jSIemorandum coram, (|Uod dominus Johannes Swayne, capel- 
lanus, executor tcstamenti Johannis lli/chard nuper de Landcbech 

^ Vol. I. p. L58,cclit. 1841. 

- A John Swayn was archbishop of Armagh from 1417 to 1438. The 
name is now spelt Swan, or Swann, and is not uncommon in Cambridgeshire, 
It was originally Sweyn, a Scandinavian personal name of great anti(j[uity, 
signifying a pastoral servant. Lower's Futronym. Britan, p. 335. 



40 

supradicta, dedit vice et nomine dicti Johannis Ryebard, et Agnetis 
uxoris sue, vnam acrani terre arabilis fabrice ecclesie omnium 
sanctorum de Landebech predicta, ibidem occupandam et vsitan- 
dara ad honorcm Dei, beate Marie, ct omnium sanctorum, quam- 
diu dicta acra duraverit. Ad suffragium et rclevamen animarum 
dictorum Johannis llycbard, et Agnetis uxoris sue, et omnium 
amicorum suorum. Cujusquidem acre vna dimidia acra jacet in 

campo de Landebech vocato Dunstall feld et aha dimidia 

acra jacet in le Mille I'eld. The trust then formed embraced 
this acre, vna cum ahis terris pertinentibus ecclesie predicte, and 
consisted of Johannes Swayne, clericus, Henricus Lane senior, 
Rogerus Warde, Edwardus Lane, Johannes Lane fihus Thome 
Lane, Thomas Lytes senior, Ricardus Hacche, Wilhchnus 
Rychard, Henricus Garard, Simon llyrne, Johannes Hacche, 
and Johannes Rychard de eadem villa, prout in quadam charta 
inde facta plane apparet. The document referred to was dated 
IS March, 21 Edw. IV. [1481]. 

Memoria sempiterna tenendum est, quod Thomas Clerk de 
Landcbeche dedit vnam acram terre arabilis ecclesie omnium 
sanctorum de eadem villa, ut parochus qualibet die dominica in 
suis precibus dominicalibus, quum oportebit, pro anima dicti 
Thome oraret : que acra abbuttat de lilakclond [Blackland] wey, 
prout in quadam carta notatur; et parochus remunerabitur sen 
satisfacietur de le cherche wardense. This gift is considered by 
Mr INIasters to belong to a somewhat earlier date, than either of 
the two foreo'oinij. 

Universis inspecturis notandum est, quod sunt tres Rudes 
terre arabilis jacentes de Catte Rude in Millefelde, date et legate 
ecclesie omnium sanctorum de Landebech per hominem quondam 
appellatum Knyglde^ ali([uando in predicta villa commorantem ; 
que terre date fuerant j>ro preparacione et continuacione cujusdam 
lampadis pendentis ante altare sancti Jacobi apostoli ; que lampas 
omnibus diebus fostivis non destituctur lumine ab hiis, qui habent 
banc terram ] ro firma. Richard Merch, son and heir of Alice, 



41 

wife of Eichard Merch senior, and daughter of John Knyght of 
Landbech, released, 19 Hen. VI. [1440], his right to certain 
lands and tenements held by the master and scholars in Cam- 
bridge. This John Knyght is supposed to have been the donor 
of the tres Rudes. But it is just as likely, if not more so, that 
the donor was Thomas Knyht, who is said, in 1461, to have 
lately possessed land in, or near, le Myllefelde super ]\Ioore mede 
furlonge. 

In the terrier of 1549, we find the position of two half acres 
pointed out, which were once the property J/'"' Brocher ; and the 
word ecclesie is appended to his name. Evidently, therefore, this 
rector, who seems to have died the very beginning of 1 489-90, 
gave an acre of land for some purpose connected with his parish 
church. 

Alicia Feesson, widow, of Mylton, 20th September, 
22 Hen. VII. [1506], made over to Thomas Lane, Roger AVarde, 
John Lane junior, Henry Lane son of John Lane senior, John 
Footte, Henry Lane son of Edward Lane, all of Landbeche, their 
heirs and assigns, one acre of land lying half in Dunstall feld, 
and half in le Roope. She appointed Walter Mascall to be her 
agent in the business ; and sealed the document in the presence 
of Robert Kerkeby, armiger, Richard Footte, Edward Lane, 
Robert Pamplion, and Henry Heme. The object of this transfer 
was certainly a charitable one, though it is not stated. 

Thomas Lane, by will proved 4th June, 1519, left ij tenements 
called JNIichers, and some lands in the fields, for a priest to sing, 
or say, Jesus Mass every Friday in the church for ever. 

Henry Lane, whose will was made 17th December, 1533, be- 
queathed to his wife Margaret all his lands and tenements for life, 
except those called Michers, of which the churchwardens were 
for ever to receive the rents for the maintenance of Jesus Mass in 
the church of Landbeach. 

Bohert Lane, by will proved 22nd ]\Iay, 1534, bequeathed an 
estate, which had belonged to his father, after the decease of his 



42 

mother, Margaret Lane, to provide a Diiigo, and Masse, in the 
churehe of Landbeche annually for the souls of Edward and Mar- 
garet Lane, and of Robert, his son. 

Several parcels of land are noticed in the terrier of 1549, lying 
in the various fields of Landbcach, and making altogether 
nine acres and a half, each parcel but two having invariably added 
to it W. Michel Villagii. Li one place, also, a boundary line is 
described by a reference to carta Willclmi Michel de terris datis 
Villagio. Mr Masters alludes to this land, and, quoting from ' the 
very deed ingrossed of y^ s'^ land,' dated 7th April, 1555, not only 
gives this sentence — De octo acris terrse arabilis, et j acra et di- 
midia de prato, datis Villagio de Beche per W. Michel, but adds, 
W. Michel pm'chased the said land of Mr Coke'. 

WiU'uuii Badslei/ gave by will, which was proved loth Sep- 
tember, 1558, his house called Thome's to the Poore, y® rent to 
be distributed yearly on Good Friday. 

John VijJers, who died here, and was buried IStli ^lay, 1609, 
left a small sura of money to the parish, the interest whereof he 
ordered to be given to the poor at the feast of S. Thomas an- 
nually. From several entries in the old vestry-book it is manifest, 
that this money was placed out at interest among the farmers of 
the parish. For, between 1st May, IGGO, and 2.3rd December, 
1G71, there are five entries respecting it, whereby Francis Gun- 
nill, AVilliam Annis, and Robert Taylor, severally acknowledged 
to have in their hands part of the money gcucn by ould Vipers, 
and that the interest accruing therefrom was to be bestowed vpon 
the poore at the feast of S. Thomas. The whole sum covered by 
these entries is £5. los. 4:d. The money has long since disap- 
peared. 

The following extract from the vestry-book will come under 

this head of Charities. It is agreed, 6th Aprill, 1675, that 

1 Mr Coke of Milton must be meant. We cannot, however, determine 
whether the lord of the manor, and judge of the Common Pleas, who died 
25th August, 1553, and whose brass is within the altar-rails there, was the 
seller, or his son Thomas. Cooper's Athen. Cantab. Vol. i. pp. 114, 543. 



43 

John Ewsden is to enjoy for his life's time the house, wherein 
he now liveth, it beinge a Towne house, and for the same hee is 
to pay the summe of three shillings and fowerpence a yeare into 
the Hands of the Churchwardens of the towne of Landbeach 
for the time beinge yearly, to the vse of the parish afores'' ; and 
to pay the rent every halfe yeare dureingc his lifetime aforesaid, 
and Likewise to keepe the same in good Kepaire. Was this 
' Towne house' the ' house called Thome's'? 

Katharine Hutton^ widow, 6th May, 7 Guliel. III. [1695], 
enfeoffed to John Chapman, and Robert Taylor the elder, the 
churchwardens, all that her Cottage with one Ixood of Arable 
Land. They were, however, to pay her twelvepence by y'^ AVeek 
during her natural life, to allow her to have her dwelling in y*^ 
said house for the same period, and also to repair it at their 
proper costs and charges, so as to make it Tenant able and con- 
venient for her. The witnesses to this document are John Dis- 
brow, William Feeson, and John Cooke. 

About the year 1720 a cottage on the green, and near it 
three other cottages, belonged to the town. 

An extract from the will of Mr Masters: — I give and de- 
vise to my son-in-law, Thomas Cooke Burroughes, and his heirs, 
my three tenements at Landbeach with the appurtenances, in 
trust to permit the same to be occupied by the clerk of that 
parish, a schoolmistress \ and a poor widow. The clerk to 
repair his own house, and to pay the quit-rent to Benet college. 
The three tenements to be at the disposal, and under the manage- 
ment, of the rector of Landbeach for the time being. They 
are all in good condition : the clerk's cottage has a garden ; 
the other two merely a small slip of ground. These two, with 
the knowledge, and express sanction, of the late Charity Commis- 
sioners, are not now occupied in accordance with ^Ir Masters' 
directions. Two rooms have been added on in the rear, at the 

^ As early as lGo9 Landbeach possessed a schoolhouse with a piece of 
land attached to it : the parish repaired and cleaned it. 



44 

expence of Mr Tinkler ; but, even with this enlargement of the 
building, there is not more than sufficient accommodation for the 
village school, and for the residence of the schoolmaster and 
schoolmistress. The premises are kept in order by the rector; 
who, also, as well as the college, and Worts' trustees, con- 
tributes liberally to the necessary school fund. 

In the parish are two double cottages. One of them, that 
to the south of the clerk''s house, it has been agreed to consider 
as Badsley's charity. By an order of the present Charity Com- 
missioners, dated 11th June, 1861, it is eventually to be pulled 
down, and the ground, on which it stands, to form the site for 
a new school-room. The other, to the north of the clerk's 
house, is supposed to have been the widow Hutton's. This is 
likewise to be taken down, when some substantial cottages 
will be built in its place, the proceeds from which are to go, 
by direction of the same authorities, towards the maintenance, 
and repair, of the fabric of the church. The rector and church- 
wardens in the first case, the churchwardens alone in the second, 
to be in future the trustees of the property, which has hitherto 
been managed according to the decision of a vestry-meeting held 
8th November, 1850. 

A trust has always existed in the parish for the manage- 
ment of some, if not of the whole, of the land left in Roman 
Catholic times to the church. The earliest document connected 
with it is one, by which Adam Gierke, the rector, transferred, 
24th August, 1 Edward IV. [1461], to Thomas Clerke, John 
Clerke, clergyman, and Thomas Wodward, chaplain, two acres 
of arable land. He had himself been a trustee of this land, 
and of other lands belonging to the parish, in conjunction with 
John Hacche lately dead, having been appointed by Thomas 
Brooke, chaplain. The witnesses to the deed are Henry Lane, 
AVilliam Chamberlayne, John Fen, Richard Hacche, and John 
Scotte. Henry Lane, and Henry Gararde, delivered over the 
same land, 28th February, 20 Edw. IV. [1481], to John Beden- 



45 

ham. These two had had for their co-trustees Henry Wentworth 
of Nettylstead^ armiger, William Foorthe of Colcestia (Col- 
chester), and Thomas Thyes of Cambridge, clergyman, all dead ; 
and they had succeeded John Gierke lately of Landbeach, 
clergyman, and Thomas Gierke. The sealing of this document 
was witnessed by John Wryght, Walter Mascall, John Grene, 
Eobert Sockelynge, and John Watkyn. Thomas Warde senior, 
son and heir of Eoger ^V"arde recently deceased, created a new 
trust, 4th December, 2 Elizabeth [1559], in favour of Master 
John Porye, D.D. rector, Henry Gotobed, yeoman, Nicholas 
Aunger, Richard Thurlowe, Thomas Warde junior, John Hacche, 
and William Lane. The land, however, is at length stated to 
be four acres, and the phrase simul cum aliis terris is omitted, 
as well as the names of Thomas Wardens co -trustees, and of 
those whom he succeeded in the trust. The trust land continued 
to be conveyed in a similar manner down to a very recent 
period. Since the Reformation, (whatever may have been the 
case previously,) it is probable, that the profits arising from 
this land were always applied, as they are now, to the general 
expences of the church. For, in the churchwardens'' accounts 
from 1G39 to IGSl, we invariably find a sum of money added, 
as received for rent of the town land. 

These churchwardens' accounts exhibit another item — 
received from the Church Lotte ; and this item, which has 
not occurred, and which could not occur, subsequently to the 
inclosure of the parish, is thus to be explained. Frith fen^ was 
entirely grass land, and was laid out afresh every year among 
those persons, to whom certain portions of it belonged. The 
measurement was made throughout ' with a pole of xiij foot in 

1 Margaret, daughter of Sir Jolm Wentworth of Nettlestead in SufFolk, 
married Sir John Seymour of Wolf Hall in Wiltshire, and became the 
mother of Jane Seymour, third queen of Hen. VIII. 

- The ditch lyings on the north quarter of Frith fen was called Land- 
beach Tilling. The water ran from this into the fens by means of another 
ditch styled Lode ditch, and so on, probably, to the Old Ouse. 



46 

length,' (in some places such pole representing one rood, and in 
others two,) as had formerly been used; and was never begun for 
two successive years at the same spot. The remnant that was left, 
after each proprietor had been assigned his due share, was appoint- 
ed for the Churche Lotte. It was a very ancient arrangement. 

By the inclosure award arable land, discharged of tithe, 
amounting to Sa. Sr. 14 p. was allotted to the churchwardens 
in lieu of their open field land, and rights of common. The 
land is let for £10 a year to a substantial tenant, the money 
being regularly received by the churchwardens, and by them 
placed to the credit of the parishioners. 

THE CHURCH. 

In 1112 Payne de Peverel wished to benefit the religious 
establishment of Austin, or black, canons founded by his uncle 
Picot twenty years before near the castle at Cambridge, but 
just removed by himself to Barnwell. He, therefore, made over 
to them two parts of the tithes arising from the demesne lands, 
which, as holding the barony of Bourne, he possessed in several 
parishes of the county, whereof Landbeach was onei, and which 
were distributed among his knights. In 1291 the prior of 
Barnwell was assessed, as a tithe owner, in connexion with the 
church of Landbeach : — Porcio Prioris de Bernewell in eadem 
[ecclesia de Landbeche] j"-. The history of this charge upon 
the living is nowhere given. It seems not unreasonable to 
imagine it to be the annual payment made to the prior out 
of the great tithes, in consequence of the above grant to his 
house by Payne. The sum they were once set at would neces- 
sarily remain, in those early times, unchanged for centuries. 
How long the composition continued to be paid, and ^what . 
eventually became of it, are equally unknown. 

^ Baker's MSS.Volix. p.4 ; Hist, and Antiq. of BfirnweU Abbey, pp. 12,13. 
* Ta.r/it. Ecclesinst. P. Nicolai, p. 2(10. 



47 

Payne de Peverel could have carried out his intention with 
respect to the tithes of Landbeach, even had not the patron- 
age of the hving been joined to his manor, inasmuch as he 
had obtained the proper episcopal sanction, just as his uncle, 
and himself, had on two separate occasions obtained such sanc- 
tion to a similar proceeding in the case of the rectory of Water- 
beach^, over which they had no power. But this patronage was 
clearly inherent in the possessions, which had been transferred 
to Payne from the disloyal son of Picot-. In the treasury of 
the college still exists a curious Remembraunce, as it is termed 
on the back of it, written during the life time of Sir Thomas 
le Chamberlayne, in French, on a small piece of parchment. It 
furnishes an account of some particulars connected with the 
ancient history of the manor of Chamberlayne, and with the suc- 
cession to the rectory, commencing thus, according to Mr Mas- 
ters' transcript : — Aleyn de Beche tient en la Vile de Land- 
beche de Sir Wiliam de Peverel le INIaner de Landbeche et 
les Apurtenances par un Fe de Chivaler, auquel le Avowison de 
mesme la Eglise fut apurtenant. It consequently appears, that 
whoever held the Picot property in Landbeach, and was bene- 
ficially interested therein, had also (and it was by no means 
an unusual thing) the right of appointing the rector. Aleyn 
de Beche enjoyed this privilege by reason of his tenure : per- 
haps, other members of his family before him, as unquestion- 
ably his son after him. His daughter Helen was possessed of 
the same privilege. Having, however, inherited the manor from 
her brother Robert about 1 240, no great number of years pre- 
vious to her own death, she in 1247 sold it to John de Ferles. 

^ Hist. pp. 27, 28. 

- In the Hist, and Antiq. of Barnwell Abbey, p. G4, William de Longcamp 
is stated to have appropriated the rectory of Landbeach, as bishop of Ely, to 
that foundation. This is an error by reason of the ambiguity of the name 
Beche ; which, though applicable to Landbeach, no less than to "VVaterbcach, 
undoubtedly means there the latter parish. See Baker's MSS. Vol. xxvii.i. 
pp. .34, .'3.5 ; Clay's Hist, of WaterUach, p. 26. 



48 

Nevertheless, the living she did not wholly part with to him: 
indeed, for the first time, as we may well believe, the patron- 
age of it was now taken in some measure out of the hands of 
the holder of the manor. For Helen de Beche requested John 
de Ferles to allow Sir Robert Avenel, Knt., the son of her 
sister Isabel, to have the next presentation to the living ; which 
led to a new arrangement respecting it. 

John de Ferles owned the property not more than three 
years, selling it in 1250 to Sir Walter le Chamberlayne, Knt. 
The living was made the subject of a special agreement. Sir 
Robert Avenel's aunt, and guardian, had stipulated, we perceive, 
for the next presentation being kept for him. John de Ferles, 
in his deed of transfer of the manor and advowson to Sir 
Walter, not only did this ; he reserved to him, likewise, the per- 
petual right of presenting alternately to the rectory of Land- 
beach, which right his descendants enjoyed, and exercised, until 
it was made over by purchase to the college. Some dispute 
concerning the living arose, 2 Edw. II. [1308], between Henry 
le Chamberlayne, and William Avenel, the grandson of Sir 
Robert. This dispute seems to have sprung out of the fact, 
that Helen de Beche, and her son, John le Bere, had both 
granted to Sir Walter le Chamberlayne, 40 Hen. III. [1255], 
the share of the advowson belonging to the said Sir Robert, 
to present after the death of Richard of London ; but only for 
that turn, we may presume. Sir John Avenel, Knt., delivered 
over to William de Horwodeof Cambridge, 29 Edw. III. [1355], 
as trustee for the college, his alternacy in the rectory of Land- 
beach, the college covenanting to pay him, and his heirs, annu- 
ally c shillings. John Hardy \ stationer of the university, was 
appointed Sir John's agent in the business. Four years later 
Sir Thomas le Chamberlayne, Knt., granted to Thomas de 

^ He was in 1349 elected curator of the estates of the gild of Corpus 
Christi. A stationer in early days was one, who had a stalls and dealt in 
manuscript books, together with their raw materials. 



49 

Eltisle, parson of the church of S. Michael de Long Stan- 
ton, his half also of the advowson, together with a garden 
and house, &c. opposite the churchyard, and abutting upon 
the highway, but without mentioning any sum of money, as 
the price paid for them. After another four years John, son and 
heir of Sir John Avenel, gave a release of his right in the living 
to Thomas de Eltisle, master. Nevertheless, the legal owner- 
ship of the advowson does not appear, even in 1363, to have 
been quite settled, in consequence of a series of complicated 
transactions respecting it, and the manor, in which many per- 
sons were concerned. Hence, 1 Rich. II. [1378], they were both 
granted by Richard Pulham, fellow, and William Beketon, 
afterwards fellow, with John Gubon or Gebon senior, to Sir 
Robert de Swelyngton, Knt., John Kynne, master, and others, 
who joined in presenting, 4th March, 1379 80, Sir Adam de 
Leverington, fellow. Moreover, 14 Rich. II. [1391], a bond was 
given to Sir Piers Courtncys, Knt\ (and INIargaret his wife) 
by the master and scholars for fifty marks sterling in con- 
nexion with the advowson, on which he pretended to have a 
claim, ' they being poor, and he very rich."' 

When the college bought the advowson, or, at least, the 
alternate right of presentation to the living, which belonged to the 
Avenel family, it was clearly their first intention to appropriate 
the great tithes thereof to their own use, and to establish a 
vicarage, so soon as they should have become possessors of the 
other alternate right of presentation, that in the hands of the Le 
Chamberlaynes, as they then meant to be, and after no long time 
actually were. Why this plan was not completed, we know not. 
That it was seriously entertained, and also begun to be carried 
into execution, is proved by two documents, of which one says, 

1 A Sir Peter Courtney was a Knight of the Garter, but he is stated to 
have died unmarried. The name of his squire, John Ilobcldod, connects 
him, however, with Cambridgeshire. Beltz's Memorials of the Order of the 
Garter, pp. 828, &c. 

E 



50 

that the college were to receive the whole profits, except the 
portion assigned to the vicar ; whilst in the other, dated on 
Monday after the feast of S. Benedict, 29 Edw. III. [1355], 
occurs the following passage: — Although it had been agreed, 
that the college should pay hira [Sir John Avenel], and his heirs, 
annually c** [for his alternacy in the advowson], yet he discharges 
them from this payment, on condition, that, after the ai)propri- 
ation, they should distribute to fifty poor people of the parishes 
appropriated, and annexed to the college, [of whidh Landbeach 
was, of course, to be one,] j*^ a piece on his birth day, for his health 
whilst alive, and on his anniversary after his deaths 

Anciently the rectory was set, sometimes at ten marks, some- 
times at ten pounds, a year. In 1254 the former was taken 
to be the value, (and, probably, in 1275,) in 12.91 the latter^, 
whilst in the old archdeacon"'s book under 1306, occurs the phrase 
taxatur ad x marcas^. The first of these three taxations was 
made by Walter, bishop of Norwich, in consequence of the first- 
fruits and tenths having been granted by Pope Innocent IV. to 
Hen. III. in the previous year: the second, by JNIagister Ileymun- 
dus de Nogeriis, et Frater Johannes de Erlyngton, ordinis pre- 
dicatorum, pro decima, quam D. Papa Gregorius X. petebat ab 
universali ecclesia ad sex annos in subsidium terre sancte ; and 
the third, by John, bishop of Winton, and Oliver, bishop of 
Lincoln, because Pope Nicolas IV. had, in 1288, assigned over 
to Edw. I. the tenths for six years, to defray the expences 
of an expedition to the Holy Land. They were all deemed op- 
pressive by the clergy, whose feelings respecting such a con- 
tinued system of taxation have been recorded in the Ledger 
Book of Barnwell Abbey ^ by means of this rhetorical sentence : — 
Ad ecclesie sancte depressionem tres successive facte sunt taxa- 
tiones : prima tolcrabilis, secunda gravis, tertia gravissima : prima 
pungit, secunda vulnerat, tertia usque ad ossa excoriat. 

1 Cole's MSS. Vol. viii. p. 189. ^ Ta.mt. Ecdesimt. p. 2G(;. 

^ See p. 74. ^ Baker's MSS. Vol. ix. p. 00. 



51 

The Taxatio Ecclesiastica of 1291 mentions an annual pay- 
ment, in addition to that due to the prior of Barnwell, made out 
of the church property at Landbeach : — Porcio Prioris de Ber- 
mondeseie x^ in eadem [ecclesia]. The two contracted words placed 
in the margin against this entry — Rector'' percip' (Rectori percipi- 
enda?) — are not easy to be understood, though they must have 
some relation to the rector of the parish. At Bermondsey was a 
church dedicated to our Saviour in 1082, by Aylwin Child, citizen 
of London, to which, seven years afterwards, was added a convent 
of Cluniac monks. The payment to the prior arose out of the circum- 
stance, that ' the tithes of the domain of Hugo de Bray, parcel of 
the rectory of Lamhith [a manifest error for Landbeche] belonged 
to this priory.' For we read : — 1229, 14 Hen. III., Facta est con- 
ventio inter Priorem de Bcrmondesey, et rectorem de Lamhith, 
de decimis de Lamhith de dominico Hugonis de Bray dimissis 
dicto rectori, et successoribus, pro perpetuo pro x** reddendis ad 
Bermondcsey^ The rector referred to could only have been 
William de London. We are ignorant, in what year the tithes, 
which were so let, became the property of the said prior ; but, 
apparently, they had only just been made over to him. 

The same document of 1291 contains- another notice: — Bona 
Prioris de Bernewell in Landbcch iiij". ij\ vj'^ It was considered 
to be the value of a certain quantity of land, of which, as prior, 
he was at that time owner. The matter is thus noticed in the 
Hundred RoUs^ under the date 7 Edvv. I. [1279] : — Et dicimus 
quod Prior de Bernewell tenet et defendit de eodem feodo 
[Walter le Chaumberlein's] xxx acras terrc cum prato in purara et 
perpetuam eleemosynam de feoffaraento Reginaldi Chenee*. 

^ See p. 2.3 ; Manning and Bray's Hist, of Surrey, Vol. i. pp. 187, 190 ; 
Dugdale's Monast. Angl. Vol. v. p. 90. 

- P. 2G8. 

3 Tom. II. p. 45G. 

■* The family of Cheynee held a manor in Steeple Mordeu before the 
reign of Edw. I. Lysons' Camhridgeshire, ji. 230. A further account of this 
land (l)ut slightly varying in quantity) will be found on pp. .54, 59. 

E 2 



52 

In the reign of Hen. VIII., when all the livings in Eng- 
land were valued by temporal authority, to ascertain for the king 
the amount of the first-fruits and tenths, (which had recently 
been given him by parliament,) the rectory of Landbeach was 
put at £10. Is. Sd., the gross annual proceeds from it being 
£18. 14s. 8J., according to the statement handed in to the 
commissioners by AV^illiam Sowode, the rector. 

Thomas Cosyn, 12 Hen. VII. [1497], leased his rectory for 
three years to Edward Kelingworth, chaplain, and John Burne of 
Landbeach, yeoman, at the annual rent of twenty marks. Again, 
4 Hen. VIII. [L'>12], he leased to John Wysett, cleik, his Chirche 
and Parsonage with all manner of Tythcs, Oblations, &c., as well 
as Stock, &c., and Implements belonging to the Household, 
(except certain Chambers over y Parlor and Botry for y' use of 
himself, or his assigns.) for a similar term and rent, as before, 
with y*" maintenance of two horses, meat and drink for himself 
and his servants, during three days at each of the three great 
Festivals, the going of six capons at the barn door, the ser- 
vice of the Cure, with all charges whatsoever, except repairs. 
Matthew Parker's lease, dated 1 Mary, [1553], was for ten 
years at a rent of xx'' to John Gotobed, yeoman, of Landbeach. 
It reserved one high chamber next adjoining unto the Great 
Chamber on the east side, or one Parlor, for the convenient 
abiding of y" said Matthew, and his successors, or resort thither; 
and also one other chamber for the Curate to lodjre in : the said 
John was to repair and maintain all the walls and fences horn 
high: the said Matthew was to repair and maintain all the 
edifices in stuff and workmanship, to discharge all payments to 
the queen, bishop, and archdeacon, and to serve the Cure by 
himself, or some other. This lease was confirmed both by the 
bishop, and by the dean and chapter, of Kly, Matthew Parker 
being still possessed of his prebendal stall in that cathedral, 
which he retained until the following April. 

The information now to he given respecting the temporalities 



53 

of the living was collected by Henry Clifford, and naturally 
comes in here. 

Here follow certen notes, which I did gytt at y® CoUedge of the 
]\r, and 31'' John Parker \ as conserning my parsonage, and the 
Prior of Barnewell his Landes. 

Imprimis, a valuation of the Benefice there, written w*'' M'' 
Sowd his hand", and so testifyed by the subscription of my L. of 
Canterbury his owne hande, which presentment was made to the 
Commissioners cessing all the Benefices in the sheere, as followeth. 

Thes be y*" proffettes of Landes and tithes apperteyning to 
y'' parsonage of Landbeche, in y'' dencry of Chesterton, in the dioces 
of Elye. Willus [Sowd] parson. 

First, I haue an howse to dwell in, it hathe, and shall haue, 
thow I be owner therof xx yeres more than have bene, coste me 
ycrly for the supportation therof iiij" ycrly. 

Also, I haue xx acres of eryabull Londe, I exteme the ferme 
therof yerly at x^ 

Also, my tythe corne T exteme it at vj". xiij'. iiij '. ther is not 
past xlj or xlij acres erabul in the parishe at the moste^ 

We have also a fen called the frithe fen, therin is abowght 
Ixx acres, and I am assigned iij acres for the hoole tithe of y"" same 
fen, which too [iij] acres I exteme yerly at vj". viij'. 

The other' haye in all y" towene is verye small, I exteme it 
at \f. viij'. 

Also, my tithe woole and Lams have bene worth v", in sume 
yere scars iiij'', and sume yere scars xl", wherfor by cause yt is 
casuall I exteme it yerly at iij". vj'. viij '. 

^ Archbishop Parker's eldest son, born in lo48 at Cambridge. See 
Masters, pp. 93, 101. 

■^ This document must have been drawn up in 1534. The commissioners 
were appointed 26 Hen. VIII. 

■' Some mistake exists in this passage. In 1549 the acres of arable land 
in the parish numbered 1045, and were thus distributed : — Collegium 406, 
Armiger 429, Rectoria G'>, and Liberi Tcncntes 145. 

^ The land in Frith fen was pasture. 



54 

My tithe milk I exteme it at xx'. 

Calucs sume yere j, and none sumc yere, on sume yere ij, but 
neuer I had past iij, wherfor for that they be not certen I exteme 
it at iij'. iiij '. 

It is a costume at Esterne [Easter] euery hows to pay for ther 
hous j', for willows j', for euery plowe j', to the pascall', and 
euery howse y' haue no plowe obolum^. All this money, with 
all the tithes and offerings at that tyme, hath bene worth sume 
yere xxj% it was neuer worth xxij", and yere last past it wanted 
iiij^ of xx% wherfore I exteme it at xx^ 

It is a use or costume in y' towne euery house keper to offer 
on y*" offering daycs^ and ther children, but farthinges, seruantes 
offer obolum, y'' devocions be but small, I exteme all y'' offerings 
in y'^ yere bothe of devocyons and devvtye, except Ester day, at viij^ 
Summa xij''. xiij". viij '.' 

Here follow certen notes of the prior of Barnwell his 
landes. 

First, I founde by much and diligent serche in a Rentall of 
the College made tempore regis Henrici sexti anno xxxvij^ et anno 
Domini 1459— croftam prioris modo in tenura ;M" Adam [Gierke] 
rectoris. Tenementum prioris de Barnewell iuxta Emmes solvit 
Collegio iiij', sed nihil nunc per excambium. Item, a memorandum 
written in an auncient ragged hande contyning this that follow, 
viz. — Memorandum that the prior of Barnewell hathe claymed 

^ The paschal-candle, the chief taper in the church, was lighted up on 
Easter eve in honour of ('hrist's victory over the powers of darkness. It 
was always of an unusual size, reaching nearly to the roof of the huilding. 
Antiquarian Coninianications, Vol. i. p. 2()!). In the Saruni Missal is an 
especial Form for the hlessing of this candle. Jewel's Works, Vol. I. p. 408, 
Park. Soc. 

- A halfpenny. 

^ See Cosin's Works, Vol. v. p. 323, edit. 1855; Clay's Liturgical Services 
of Queen E/izabeth, p. 185, note 8. 

^ There is an error of one pound one shilling : the shilling from a wrong 
calculation, the pound from taking no notice of the tithe-milk, which item 
is missing in some copies of the document. 



55 

by a copye as he sayth of an old indenture made in King 
Edwardes the thirdes dayes xxxiiij acres and dimid. of Lande 
arable in the feeldes of Landbech', of the w<='> as he sayth v acres 
and dimid. lyeth in Scachebowe feld ; vj acres and iij roodes in 
Dunstall feeld ; ix acres and j roode in Milfeld ; vij acres in the 
Medow fcld ; iiij acres in Banworth, and ij acres in le croftes. 
\^ideatur' si tales terre habeantur in possessione rectorie de 
Landbeche. 

A note of the prior's owen hande : memorandum that 
I Johannes [de Levcryngton], prior de Barnewell, recepi v'f die 
mensis marcii, per manus Roberti 8mitlie servientis domini Johan- 
nis Swayne de Landebech, pro termino Sancti Luce evangeliste 
ultimo preterito ante datum presentis xxvj^ viij', anno regni regis 
Henrici septimi viij", [1493]. 

The tcrrye of all the lands Arable, Pastore, Meadow, and 
Leis, belonginge to the Parsonage of Landbeach, as Mr. Henry 
Clifford Parson theare haue vscd them, and was possessed of them, 
at and from his First entraunce, beinge the xxvij of Febr. 1569 
[1570] vntill this xix day of December in the yeare 1614. 

Imprimis, A Parsonage howse, and other ediffices, betweene 
the Church Yard on the one side, and Copt^ Hall yarde on the 
other, the West head abuttinge vpon the highe waye, the East 
vpon the Common. 

Item, a Close conteininge ij acres betweene the tenement of 
Henrye Leach north, and widow Garrett south, the east head 
abutting on the common streete. 

1 The inclosure-award mentions a close called prior's close, situated to- 
ward the end of the village on the Milton side, and so designated, no doubt, 
from the prior of Barnwell. 

- This is Henry Clifford's remark. See p. 59. 

^ The Anglo-Saxon word cop signifies the top of any thing. This house 
was styled copt, either because it was situated upon ground slightly raised 
above the level of what was formerly the common towards the east (Morant's 
Hii>t. of Essex, Vol. i. p. 47) ; or rather, perhaps, because its roof was high 
and peaked. 



56 

Item, iij acres meadow in Fryth Fenne, of Fenne measure^ 
the lands of the manno® of Brays on the \yest, and the Fenn 
lands now Kobert Stories on the east. 

Item, in Banworth feild x acres one roode arable : Meadow 
feilde six acres di. : ISlylle feilde xviij acres : Scachbowe feilde 
X acr. j rood: Dunstall feilde xv acr. di. roode'-. Summa of all 
the arable is Ix acres di. roode. 

Acknowledged and subscrybed the daye and yeare above 
wrytten Per me Ilenricum Clifford rectorem. John Pagette, 
John Flavell, William Baltroppe, AVilliam Foote, Samvell 
Jackson, Kichard llomonte. 

Theise above wrytten are the names of snch, as, dwelling in 
Landbeach of a longe tyme, did plowe sowe mowe reape and 
earrye the cropp belonging to the saide parsonage. And so I 
wittnes by subscrybinge my name. Per me Toby Clifford ' scrip- 
torem. This also was subscribed by the Churchwardens for the 
tyme beinge the xiiij day of June Anno Domini 1615. By me 
Thomas I'oote : by mo John Clifford ; the Churchwardens. 
William Jollye + his mark. 

Priveledges, duties*, and customes Belonging to the Parsonage 
of Landbeache. 

Imprimis, the parson is to haue the Cowrse of ix score sheepe 
in the Colledge Plocke'', payeing to the shepherd the rate of ij'' 
for euery sheepe, which is per annum xxx^ 

Item, Feeding in the comons for milch Beastes oxen and 
weanlinges, payeng ordinary wages, and keeping a Bull. 

Item, Common for all other thinges, as horses geese hogges 
&;c. as the other Inhabitantes, keping a comon Boore. 

1 See p. 45. 

^ The terrier of 1549 gives these quantities somewhat differently, and 
makes them altogether amount to 68 a. 1 r. 20 p. 

^ He liad Ijeen churchwarden in 1000. 

* Dues, fees, as hefore. The word ' duty ' still occurs in this sense in a 
luhric of our jNIavriagc-Service. 

® See p. 28. 



57 

Item, to haue of all Coppie houlders at iiij offering dayes 
in the yeare obolum the peeee, and of seruantes also obolum the 
peece. 

Item, Freehoulders to paye at iij offeringe dayes three 
qua[rters of a penny] a peece, and at Ester obolum, ther 
seruantes obolum euery offering daye. 

Item, for gardeines the tenth leeke, besides honye and waxe. 

Item, for wyne j*^ 1 

Item, for willowes^ j^ > at Ester for euery house. 

Item, for chickens j*^ J 

Item, Gosselinges the tenth, and pigges the tenth, and 
tnrkies the tenth. 

Item, thear is a eustome, that against Ester they paye for 
every henne not settyng, or hauing chickens, ij eggs, and iij for 
a cocke, and likewise for duckcs and drake. 

Item, the Calfe, yf yt be sould, the tenth j*^, and yf yt be eaten 
all in the howse, or weyned, obolum ; and yf the parishners haue 
vij calves, or vij lammes, to haue a calfe or a lamnie, but then 
the Parson must geuc for the iij odd calues or lammes j'^ obolum^. 
Item, yf the parishners haue but vj, then the Parson to haue iij*^ 
and so answered, except he selleth anye of them, then to haue the 
tenth y\ if they be souled w"'in the yeare. 

1 Henry Clifford was veiy particular in noting clown in one of the field- 
books, under the date 1507 Novcnibris 14, the exact number of willows he 
had observed, as he was riding out with Dowse, planted on certain banks. 
AVillows are peculiarly a production of the fens, and not being reckoned 
among gross woods, or such as were usually employed in builduig, were tith- 
ablc. Degge's Ptnson's Counsellor, p. 318. edit. 1820. 

- The following extract from Archbishop Winchclsey's provincial canon 
of 1305 will explain any obscurity in the above regulation : — Si scptem sint 
agni in numero, septimus agnus detur pro decima rcctori ; ita tamen quod 
rector ecclesiae, qui septimum agnum recipit, tres obolos in rccompensationem 
solvat parochiano, a quo decimam recipit : qui octavum recipit, det dena- 
rium : qui vero nonum, det obolum parochiano, vel expectct rector usque ad 
alium annum, donee plcnaric dccimum agnum possit recipere, si malucrit. 
Ibid. p. 330. 



58 

Item, the tyth of Calues to be due at y^' month age, and not 
before. 

Item, the lamme to be due at the tyme accordinge to the 
custome, which is at shearynge^ 

Item, to paye for the Foale at Ester j*^, though it goeth 
but thryse about the damme, and no more though it proveth. 

Item, mortuaries as thear abihty is according to statute-. 

Item, tyth pig, woole, fruite, wood, heye, corne, hemp, flaxe, 
accordinge to the law the tenth. 

Item, tyth niilke to haue the tenth daye boath morning and 
evening, and the parson to send for yt. And now of late by 
Mr. Sowde agreed to haue at Ester iij'' the Cowe^, and ij^ obolura 
the heifar, in recompence^. 

Item, thear is a Fen called Fryth fenne, tharin is about Ixx 
acres, and the parson is assigned theare a peece of iij acres for 
the whole tyth of the same fenne. 

Item, for Churchinges v''. 

Item, for manages xij''. 

To the kinges majestie yerly a pention of x^. 

To the Lord Bishop of Elie yerly the tenthes xx* j^ ob. 

qu [f]. 

To the Archdeacon at Visitation his fee iij^ iiij^* Acqt. iiij**. 
Per me Ilenricum Clifford rectorera, et anno residentiae 
mese 46. 

In a later hand 

* EIseAvhcre we have — the laml« are not tythable till share day, i. e. 
Midsummer. 

- 21 Hen. VIII. [1529]. Ibid. pp. 424, &c. Mr Masters several times 
records his having received 10*. for a mortuary, the highest sum allowed by 
the statute. 

^ As regards a later period it is said ; — For a Cowe w"* a Calf is 4** at 
Easter, and for a Cow w^'out one is S"*. 

* Mr iNIasters here observes : — -This agreement for cows might at any 
time he set aside, as there appears to have been none for calves. 

■' This sum is made up of the synodals, and procurations, of ancient times. 
See p. 74. 



£. 


s. 


^1. 





2 


6 








4 





2 


10 



59 



To tlie Lord Bishop of Ely at His triennial \ 

Visitation J 

Acq* 



The annual payment of forty shillings to the king needs 
a few explanatory remarks. It has been already pointed out, that 
the prior of Barnwell once claimed thirty four acres and a half 
of land lying in the different fields of Landbeach : also, that 
Reginald Chenee had been the donor of the land, at least as 
early as 1279. On the surrender of the priory of Barnwell into 
the hands of Hen. VIII in 1538, this estate amongst other 
church property necessarily fell to hira. In a short time, how- 
ever, it was granted to the rector of the parish, in consideration of 
xl' being paid to the sovereign every feast of S. Michael, as may 
be seen in a Roll belonging to the Augmentation Office, now 
deposited in the Public Record Office, Fetter Lane. Mr. Masters 
discharged that incumbrance on his living, with eight pence as 
acquittance, for the last time, lOtli October, 1787. For the com- 
missioners of the land-revenue gave notice to all, whom it con- 
cerned, that by 26 Geor. III. cap. 87 [1786] they were 
empowered to sell such fee-farm rents, and other rents payable to 
the Crown out of freehold estates ; and that the owners of the 
estates, out of which the rents were payable, would have the 
preference of purchase up to 1st January, 1788. Accordingly he 
laid the matter before the college, and received in return a letter 
dated -itli December, 1787, from which this is an extract: — They 
have agreed to purchase the Crown Rent issuing out of your 
Rectory. They have only to desire of you to make the purchase, 
and the Bursar will pay the money, when the purchase is com- 
pleted. As they consider you a benefactor to the Rectory, they 
mean that you should have the immediate benefit of the pur- 
chase. 



GO 

In 1652 Dr Eawley leased to Thomas Sparrow the younger, 
of Landbeach, his rectory and parsonage with every thing belong- 
ing thereto, as lands, sheep-gates, tithes, fruites, profittes, obla- 
cions, obvencions, &c. except the residence house, the common 
in the fens, and other places commonable, certain barns, stables, 
&;c., the pigeon-house of the parsonage with its tithe pigeons, the 
parsonage close with its tithe hay, the churchyard, the chancel of 
the church, the fees arising from marriages and churchings, and 
all the wood, whether trees or loppings, during the term of three 
years, for one hundred and threescore pounds per annum, he, the 
said Thomas, engaging also to furnish six good and sufficient 
cart loads of rve, or other orood and durable thatchinge straw, 
and pay thirteene shillings and foiu* pence towards the reparacion 
of the barns, &c. John Cory in 1692 gave a lease of the church 
property including all oblacions and offerings to John Taylor, and 
Robert Taylor the elder, yeomen, of Landbeach for three years 
at the rent of £131, nothing being excepted but the tithe of the 
close commonly called Parsonage Close, and all mortuaries, mar- 
riages, and churchings. John Micklcbourgh leased in February 
1727-8 to Rivers Taylor all his arable glebe land for three 
years at £21. 8s. per annum, and the tithes by another lease 
for £138. 12^. house, gardens, camping ^ and parsonage closes, 
being excepted. 

John Micklebourgh's estimate of the value of the rectory : — 

63 acres of glebe at 8s. per acre 
Pasture 40 acres at 25. per acre . 
Arable land 996 acres at 2s. 2d. per acre 
1800 sheep drop 900 lambs at 4^. . 
Milch Bullocks-^ 400 at 6cl. each 

1 Here the old game of football was accustomed to bo played. The close 
had its name from the Anglo-Saxon word campian to strive or contend. 
About 1720 we meet with the remark : — two shillings and sixpence payable 
by custom on Shrove Tuesday for the Football men. The rector paid it. 

^ In another estimate, we have :— 400 Bullocks Milch and drie [on the 



£ s. 


d. 


. 25 4 





4 





. 107 18 





. 15 





. 10 






£ n. 


d. 


1 16 





7 10 





1 13 


4 


20 





10 





9 





212 1 


42 



61 



Dove Houses^ 6 at 6s. each 
Wool at Is. 8c/. per score, 90 score 
Geese and Goslings 50 at Sd. each . 
Commonage for 20 Cows .... 
Piggs, Eggs, Apples, and Oblations . 
Liberty of 180 Sheep keeping at l^'. each 



The parish having been enclosed between the years 1807 and 
1813, the proceeds of the living now arise from an allotment of 
land. This allotment amounts to 438 a. 1 r. 2 p. The o-ross 
annual income is put by the present rector at £800. The fees 
for marriages, churchiiigs, and burials, the last being an inno- 
vation, produce an extremely small sum. 

Landbeach stands in the deanery of Chesterton, and Hundred 
of North Stow\ Under the head of first-fruits the rector pays to 
the bishop of Ely £10. U\ Sd.: the other payments are such as 
have been mentioned before. 

The church of Landbeach consists of a square tower at the 

common]. The word Bullocks is here used for cows. Wo find the phrase : 
—my blackc bullockc y' is with calfe, in a will of 1559. Tymms' Bun/ Wills, 
p. 249. 

^ An item elsewhere given is :— Dove House of the Parsonage £S. Mr 
Masters records having sold 93 bushels of pigeons' dung in one year for 
£2. Gs. Cxi. The upper part of the church tower at Milton is still regu- 
larly fitted up internally as a pigeon- house. Such a beneficial appropriation 
of it, however, is solely connected with the time, happily past by, when the 
rectory was a sinecure, the rector consequently non-resident, and the great 
tithes let out to farm. 

- AVhen the bishop of Ely (Sir Thomas Gooch, Bart.) applied in 175.3 for 
a dispensation to allow John Micklebourgh to hold the vicarage of Imping- 
ton with the rectoiy of Landbeach, his lordship stated the former to be worth 
£50, and the latter 1180, a year. 

^ See Antiquarvin Communications, Vol. i. p. 280, where is an engrav- 
ing of a seal belonging to this Hundred recently brought to light for 
labourers' and servants' passes agreeably to 12 Rich. II, [1388]. 



G2 

west end with a stone spire, a nave, nortli and south aisles, a 
chancel, and south porch. Late in Mr Masters' time a tiled 
chapel existed, but in a dilapidated condition, to the north of 
the chancel, and standing level with it towards the east : this he 
afterwards pulled down\ The nave, aisles, and porch, are covered 
with lead : the chancel is tiled. It is dedicated to All Saints, 
and is in an excellent state of repair both internally and 
externally. 

The present structure occupies, as must generally be the case, 
the same site, which the Norman", and the Saxon church, if there 
was one, formerly occu})ied. As first erected, it was the work, 
we may well conceive, of Sir Thomas le Chamberlayne, and about 
the year 1350. The tower with its spire, and the chancel, belong- 
to the late Decorated style, being the only ])arts of his church yet 
remaining. A late Perpendicular nave, which dates from the end 
of the fifteenth century, has been substituted for the Decorated one. 
The porch with its windows at the sides is to be referred, perhaps, 
to the same period: on it is the date 1813, indicating that some 
reparation was then done to it, and to other portions of the 
church. 

The tower has the original handsome west window of two 
lights, quite perfect. Each face of it has also at the top, just 
under the battlements, a coat of arms on a stone shield. That to 
the west is semee of fleur-de-lis debruised with three barrulets : 
that to the north has the emblems of the crucifixion: that to 
the east a plain cross ; and that to the south two keys in saltirel 
In 1764 the steeple, being much decayed, was repaired, and the 

' Cole has a pen-and-ink sketch of the church, as it was in 174;'). It 
shows the east end of this chapel, with its window, and comer buttress. 
MSS. Vol. VIII. p. 4.'3. 

2 See pp. 07, 71. 72, 74. 

^ Cole gives all these coats of arms. The shield on the west face of the 
tower displays, probably, one of the coats borne by the Lc Chamberlayne 
family, or the Ue Brays ; not, as Cole suggested, that of "Warine lord IMun- 
chensi, who died in 12,5.5, a century too early, and had a different coat. 



63 

spire pointed, by a man named Thomas Sumpter. The tower 
contains four bells, all old, and one very ancient, indeed, coeval 
with the Decorated church. Two have on them John Draper'^ 
MADE ME, 1619: these are both cracked. Another has Fauet 
JovA POPULO suo : Stephanus Tonni- de Buri Sancti 
Edmoxdi me fecit, 1577. The fourth has ©bn'stUS ^t3cr= 
pctUC i3ct Xobl's (^autJia UitC, each word being separated by 
some ornamental device in the place of stops, of which two are 
medallions exactly similar to the reverse of our silver coinage in 
the fourteenth century. This bell is supposed to have been cast 
about 1350, though it is without a date, as generally happens with 
medieval bells. On the caput or haunch of it is the founder's 
stamp, a small raised shield bearing the legend 3Itt tiomino 
COnfliJO UCO, the beginning of the tenth psalm (Vulg. Ver,), with 
the figure of a bclP; whilst below are the letters UjLX and Jp, 
the initials of the founder's name — VV. Ffoundor— another portion 
of the name beinor on that figure itself. The east face of the 
tower inside the church bears the royal arms. They were fixed 
there, IGth December, 1826, having been brought from the old 
hall of the college, the gift of the master and fellows. Dr Gunning, 
afterwards bishop of Ely, had put them up over the hall-table, 
at an expence of <£20, in 1 660, the year in which he was made 
master. The royal arms previously in Landbeach church, and 
in 1745 hano-inor over the chancel screen, are in Milton church. 

The nave has four arches, but the capitals of the pillars on 
the north side are uniformly different from the capitals of the 

1 John Draper lived at Thctford in Norfolk. See Lukis' Account of 
Church Bells, p. G4, where is a singular inscription from a bell cast by this 
same founder for the church of S. Benedict, Cambridge. 

^ A son most likely of John Tonne, whose bells are found in Essex, 
and Hertfordshire, as well as in Sussex, the county whence he came to 
Bury. 

•' The Ffoundor family have 'scattered their bells broadcast over Eng- 
land,' their usual mark being a medallion with two birds sitting on a tree, 
and the name round the margin. Ibid. Plate xi. 



64 

• 

pillars on the south side. It has also a very fine roof with tie- 
beams, and large angels projecting from the centre of each bay. 
In the gable, immediately over the chancel arch, was a window, 
now blocked up. A window so situated was peculiar to Perpen- 
dicular buildings, and may have been designed to throw light into 
the rood-loft. The seats are chiefly the original open seats of 
the fifteenth century, without popi>y-heads. 

Mr Masters has left the following circumstance on record': — 
As some workmen were employed in refitting a seat in the church 
in the year 175G, they found it necessary to remove an excrescence 
from the pillar next the chancel on the N. side. This was of 
stone in the form of a rose, four feet above the pavement, and 
projecting three inches from the surface of the pillar, (being eight 
inches wide and five high,) which easily parted from it upon the 
stroke of the tool, it being inserted into the pillar scarce an 
inch deej). This had been cemented on the back side to another 
stone of only an inch thickness, whose dimensions were 4^ inches 
by 3}, which exactly filled up a cavity in the pillar. In the cavity 
were found two wooden dishes nicely covered, and cemented to- 
gether, with some linen cloth, the remains of which were still 
visible ; and in them, as the skilful in anatomy positively assert, 
the muscular part of a human heart, which, after having been 
properly prepared by the embalmers, as was evident from some 
parts remaining of their preparations, had likewise been carefully 
wrapped u}) in linen, the threds whereof were yet distinctly to be 
seen. The dishes had been afterwards filled up with what had 
indeed the appearance of either hair or wool, but, upon a nicer 
examination being found to have many fibres, must rather have 
been some vegetable substance ; and, perhaps, making some 
allowance for the alterations made therein throuoh length of time, 
might have been sjAkcncuxl, much used on such occasions. There 
was neither inscription, nor any sort of marks, whereby its age 

^ It is noticed by Cough in his Sepulchral Monumcntft, Vol. i. p. Ixxix. 



65 

might be with any certainty discovered. It was, however, most 
probably, deposited there before the Reformation, and may either 
have been some relicJc, heretofore much reverenced, or may have 
belonged to the founder of the fabric, or to some one of the 
knightly family of Ghamherlayne^ who resided here, and gave name 
to a manor. Or it min;ht belong to some one of the name of 
Bray, after whom another manor in the parish is called, it being 
no uncommon thin": in that aije to bring over such remains of 

o o o 

a deceased friend of any eminence dying abroad, either in the 
Holy Wars, or in those of France, and to deposit them amongst 
those of their ancestors. The above was exhibited both to the 
Royal and Antiquarian Societies, and, being deemed a great 
curiosity by many of their members, was at their special request 
deposited in the British Museuui. 

The roof of the north aisle is good with its oaken flowers 
for bosses, and its small angels. Inserted in the outer wall of 
that aisle, near the door, is a very fine Decorated canopied monu- 
ment with crockets, and double feathered cusps. Tradition 
ascribes it to some member of the Chamberlayne family, whose 
arras can be traced in the adjoining window, argent, 2 hencUets 
dansette, sable. Which of them bore such a coat is readily de- 
termined. For of the two seals attached to Henry le Chaumber- 
leyn's will, as noticed and described by Mr Masters, (though he 
would seem to be slightly wrong in his statement of the matter, 
as was also Gough who followed him,) one, according to him, has, 
argent, a lend, sable, cotized, dansette ; and on a label round 
it — sigillum Thome Chaumbirleyn. Gough fancied the monument 
to mark the burying place of Walter, the grandson of Sir Walter^ ; 
but he died somewhat too early for the style of architecture. 
Supposing the placing of those arms in the tracery of the 
window (and it was easy to remove them from the Decorated to 
the Perpendicular window, when the body of the church was 
rebuilt,) to have had any connexion with the neighbouring monu- 

' Thid. Vol. I. pp. Ixxxviii. 219. 

F 



6G 

ment, which is not at all unlikely, that monument must rather 
have belonged to Sir Thomas, and in his character of founder. 
The monument was preserved at the same time, as the arms : it 
is now in a great measure blocked up, in order to interfere as 
little as possible with the occupiers of the pew, of which it forms 
a part. This pew used to be filled with the copy-holders of the 
manor of Chamberlayne, the seat set apart for the lord of the 
manor being immediately to the east of it. 

The west end of the north aisle serves for the vestry : it con- 
tains a very large oaken chest clamped with iron, and, perhaps, 
coeval with the Decorated church. At the east end of the same 
aisle formerly stood the chapel before alluded to. This chapel, to 
the north of the chancel, (on which side there neither are, nor 
ever have been, any windows,) was originally entered from the 
west. On its appropriation as a vestry for the rcctor\ such door- 
way may have been stopt up, and another formed ; assuredly, 
a door-way leading from it into the chancel can be traced 
immediately under the tablet to the memory of Henry Clifford. 
The chapel was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, inasmuch as 
Edward Lane, in 1530, bequeathed a pound of wax to our Lady 
in the chapel, and we are not aware of more than one chapel 
attached to the church of Landbeach. Henry le Chaumberleyn 
wished, indeed, in 1345, to be buried in the chapel to the south 
of the chancel. The words of his will are : — lego corpus meuni 
ad sepeliendum in capella ex parte australi cancelli parochialis 
ecclesie de Landbcche. If the chapel intended pertained to the 
chancel now in being, australi was put by a clerical error instead 
of boreali ; and this has been confidently said. For no chapel ever 



^ From the clim'chwardens' accounts it is quite clear, that meetings for 
parish business were very commonly held at a public house. It is worth 
recording what we read in the overseers' book for the parish of Tempsford. 
There Ann St John, lady of the manor, was constantly present at such meet- 
ings from 1G74 to 1G94, and signed the minutes with occasionally other 
females, as having, in the absence of the rector, occupied the chair. 



67 

could have been joined on to the south wall of this t?hancel, where 
was the customary priest's door with a window on each side occupy- 
ing the whole space, as at present. But we need not have recourse 
at all to the supposition of a mistake in the wording of the will. 
Why should not the will refer to a chapel in connexion with that 
church, which preceded the Decorated church j Moreover, the 
very mentioning of a chapel, where no chapel could, or did, stand, 
unless we adopt such a notion, seems to prove, that the Decorated 
church was not begun to be built, even if it had been thought 
about, during the lifetime of Henry le Chaumbcrleyn ; and conse- 
quently justifies us in affirming, that he at least had nothing to 
do with the erection of it. On the other hand, from the occurrence 
of the arms of Bishop de L'Isle, (who sat from 1345 to 1861,) both 
in the church, and in the cellar of the rectory house, we can fix 
upon no one more likely to have built the Decorated church than 
Henry's son. Sir Thomas. Bishop de L'lsle may have assisted 
him in so good a work : at all events he was the diocesan, whilst 
it was being carried on. The same remarks apply, though in a less 
degree, to Bishop Arundel. The hole through the wall, exactly 
opposite the pulpit, is of very modern origin : its purpose is 
easily perceived. 

The south aisle has its west end given up to the use of the 
sexton. At the east end was a side chapel. We find here 
on a stone shield, which a mutilated angel is holding upon his 
breast, and which may have once formed the bracket for an image, 
the arms of the see of Ely. 

The chancel, though belonging to the Decorated period, is 
poor in its style of architecture, small, and rather low ; and yet 
its sidewalls were raised a little by the present rector, who also 
put on an entirely new roof. The East window, which was re- 
paired, (in a very ordinary manner,) and glazed, by Mr Masters 
soon after his induction to the living, contains some good 
painted glass of French manufacture transferred thither by him 
from the parlour window of the rectory house. Adam da Deo 

F 2 



68 

gloriam occurred as a legend' on this glass; but which rector of 
that name it commemorated, whether Adam de Leverington, or 
Adam Gierke, can only be determined from the character of the 
glass itself, which would incline us to the latter. In the same 
window Mr Masters likewise put two heads, 'being thought by 
them, whose judgment may be relied on, worthy of preservation."* 
They are, he conceived, the heads of John Beaufort, and Mar- 
garet his wife, first duke and duchess of Somerset, parents of 
Margaret, countess of Richmond", so great a benefactress to the 
university of Cambridge ; and they came from an oratory erected 
to the memory of her, her family, and friends. Some heads of her 
friends, or relatives, have been added. The painted glass, being 
a compound of independent pieces, cannot of necessity present 
any regular subject. In the upper tracery of this window are 
three coats of arms. One of them is too indistinct to be made 
out : another has quarterly 1 . 4. argent, 3 bai-s, gules ; 2. 3. paly 
of six, or, and gules, impaling France and England per fess": the 
third, (which has been reversed by the glazier,) argent, on a 
bend engrailed, sable, 8 fishes, argent, impaling, or, three lions 
rampant, sable. Below is a picture of the Adoration of the 
Shepherds on wood, ' said to be by a good hand, and very 
valuable,' the gift, in 1787, of Mr Masters, who in the same year 
added the altar rails. On each side of the chancel, within the 
altar rails, is an oaken bench with misereres, which are fastened 
up, in order the better to show the carved mitres, &c., wherewith 
the lower parts of them are ornamented. In both the rector''s pews 
'under the serene,' (which existed in 1745, but was subsequently 
removed by Mr blasters,) are likewise two oaken seats, or stalls, 
with misereres, the bottoms whereof were once covered with carved 
shields. Two of these misereres were, in 1745, decorated with the 
arms of Bishops de L'Isle, and Arundel, the shields having then 

' It is no longer to be discovered. 

* Cooper's Memorhtls of Camhridye, Vol. ii. pp. 9, 15. 

^ It has been suggested, that tliesc were the arms of the Dc Beche family. 



69 

been removed from the two others : now they have all been re- 
moved. The arms of the former are, or, a fess between two 
chevrons, sable, with a star for difference, within a bordure, sable : 
those of the latter, quarterly 1 . 4. gules, a lion rampant, or, armed 
and langued, azure ; 2. 3. cheeky, or, and azure : all within a 
bordure engrailed, argent^ The two shields just referred to, 
emblazoned, are placed on the east end of the chancel with 
those of the college, and Mr Masters, also on wood. Between the 
mural tablets of John Micklebourgh, and his wife, are his arms, 
argent, on a pile, sable, 3 lozenges, argent, in base two crosses 
botonoe, fichee, gules. Cole mentions sedilia under the first south 
window'-. These remained down to Mr Masters'* time, as he says, 
' under the upper S. Window are seats of stone for the different 
orders of officiating Priests, one below the other.' Who took 
them away, we know not. 

On the north wall, and in the pavement, are the following 
epitaphs to some deceased rectors, &c. 

fDcnrne (Tliffortr, /llnstcr of 0vtfs, ^aicuclbcr' nntr ^Dnrson 
of tftis (Tljurcl): after residence of full 47 jicrcs, cntitngc \)i% Infe, 
ticpnrtcU in tf)c faitlj of drijitst, anti toas buritti ^o 1616. unto 
me gestevtias, to t^t to Kay. I^ccL 38. cBtatis suae 77. Guil. Bro. 
posuit. 

Hie jacct Guilielmus Rawley, S. T. Doctor, Vir Gratijs et 
Musis ex ?cquo charus. Sereniss. Regibus Car, 1 et 2'° a Sacris. 
D' Franc. Verulamio SaccUanus primus at([ue ultimus. Cujus 
Opera Summa cum fide edita ei debent Literse. Uxorem habuit 
Barbaram, ad latus Mariti positam, Jo. Wixtcd' Aldcrmanni 
nuper Cantabr. filiam. Ex ea Filium suscepit unicura Guilicl- 

^ The bordure has been painted a wrong colour. 

- MSS. Vol. VIII. p. 4 J. 

^ Henry Clifford had been duly ' allowed to be a preacher ' by his dio - 
cesan. Canons xxxvi, xlv. 

•» John AVickstead, Esq. late Alderman and Mayour of Cambridge, and 
Principall of Bernard's Inn, London, aged 83 yeares, was buried at Land- 
beach, January 5th, 1040-7. 



70 

mum, in Cujus cineribus Salis baud parum latet. Ecclesiam 
banc per annos 50 prudens administravit, tandem plaeide, ut 
vixit, in Domino obdormivit, Anno Domini ]MDCLXVII. Jun. 
18. jEtat. 79. Tbe arms on tbis stone are arranged wrongly, 
Wixted impabng Eawley instead of tbe reverse. Eawley's arms 
are, argent, on a bend, sable, between 3 Cornisb cbougbs proper, 
2 sacks in saltire, or, between 2 buckles, argent : Wixted's, 
cheeky. . .and. . . , a chief vaire. 

Hie requiescit Johannes Cory S.T.B. vir pietate insignis, et 
orani llterarum generc prtcclarus : assiduus Concionator, et bujiis 
Ecclesitc per annos 39 Rector indefessus. Adbseret lateri Uxor 
amantissima, pras dolore obruta ; ebeu ! quam subito sequuta est, 
semel simul et semper i. Hie animam plaeide Deo reddidit Sept. 
17, Anno iEtat. 76. Salut. 1727: lHa Nov. 23. iEtat. 57. 

Quos per viginti annorum spatium, felices ter et amplius. 
Amor, Fides, et irrupta Connubii Copula, conjunctos simul tenuit : 
lios uxoris dilectissimre Hester Mors non immatura, subita tamen 
et inopinata. dictum factum divulsit. Egit annos Eetatis sexaginta 
et unum, sctatem in vita futura sempiternam et beatissimam 
actura; qua spe suffulta primum Kalendarum Februarii a.d. 1749 
[1750] supremum vitse bene acta) diem sine gemitu, sine suspirio, 
exegit. Johannem Micklebourgh S.T.B, hujus ecclesiiv Rec- 
torem reliquit superstitem, ma^stissimum maritum, sute ipsius 
vitse tantum non nescium, qui juxta hoc marmor Conjugis exuvias 
curavit deponendas, sub eadem terra suas ipsius tandem aliquando 
depositurus. 

Pro suo ipsius jussu deponitur infra (juod reliquum est Johan- 
nis Micklebourgh, apud Cantabrigienses Cheminc Professoris 
Caput mortuum. Et (ut loqui aniant Chemici) die secundo 
Maii ]\I.DCC.LVI. exhausto spiritu, terra itidera damnata ad 
vitam beatam, quod faxit Deus, resurrcctura. 

In memory of Thomas Cooke ]3urroughes M.A. 23 years 
rector of this parish, who, by a strict and faithful discharge of 

' Scmel simul et semper was tlic posy on Mrs Cory's wedding-ring. 



71 

the duties both of a minister, and a magistrate, Hved universally 
respected; and in whose private character were united the 
generous friend, the tender husband, and affectionate father. He 
died April 23, 1821, in the 65th year of his age, beloved, 
honoured, lamented. 

Sacred to the memory of the Rev. Edward Addison 22 years 
rector of this parish, who died May 28, 1843, aged 67 years. 
Also Maria Sarah Addison, his sister, who died April 8, 1843. 

In the chancel was found in the year 1711, and within less 
than a foot of the surface, under a white stone, a stone coffin 
without any lid to it, the white stone acting as a covering for the 
upper part ; and also a pewter chalice, the bowl and foot very 
thin, but the shaft thick and heavy, which Mr Coiy, the rector, 
conceived to be a relic brought by the party interred from 
some pilgrimaged The pewter chalice rather showed the stone 
coffin to have held the body of one of his predecessors. It was 
customary for such coffins to be deposited just beneath the 
pavement, a rough stone slab being placed over them level with 
the pavement, or a coped lid sculptured with crosses of vai'ious 
fashions, and with other ornaments. 

The basin of the font is octagonal, small, (juite modern, and 
devoid of interest. The bottom part, on the contrary, which is 
equally octagonal, formed a portion of a much earlier font, one 
which may have occupied previously the same position; and 
which, if, as it seems to be, of Early English architecture, 
belonged to a church more ancient than that built by Sir Thomas 
le Chamberlayne. 

About the body, and chancel of the church, are the ma- 
trices of five brasses, one of them with figures ; and, since 
Dowsing says nothing in his Journal respecting a visit to the 
parish, he, iconoclast* as he was, is not to be blamed for the 
spoliation. The beautiful raised cross slab in the pavement, 
partly of the north aisle, partly of the vestry, has been engraved 

^ Cough's Sepulchral Monuments, Vol. i. p. Ixix. 



72 

by Cutts^, who assigns it to the thirteenth century. Should this 
date le correct, and we may faii-ly assume that it is, the slab 
must be another relic of an earlier church, and thus have an 
additional interest attaching to it. Gough" has likewise given 
the slab, but without adding any remarks thereupon. 

The pulpit, which has a flat modern testoon over it, is very 
deserving of notice, and to l>e highly admired, in consequence 
of the beautiful carved wood- work, whereof it is formed. Its 
ancient wood-work constitutes, in fact, the great recommenda- 
tion of the church, and renders it so attractive an object to the 
curious, the whole building, from the east end of the chancel 
to the tower arch, together with the vestry, being full of it. It 
was brought from Jesus college chapel in 1787 by Mr Mas- 
ters. The authorities of that college had disposed of it, because 
they wished to arrange the interior of their chapel more in 
accordance with the ideas then prevailing of comfort and neat- 
ness. This wood-work is profusely adorned with the mitre, 
and cock and globe, the two badges of Bishop Alcock, the 
founder of the college. In one part of it we have represent- 
ations of horse-shoes, pincers, nails, &c., all emblems of the 
trade of a smith, or rather of a farrier, though the reason for 
tjieir introduction is unknown to us. Could it be, that some 
member of a family, like that of Ferrars (ferrarius), who bore, 
at least, horse-shoes in their arms, was concerned in causing 
the wood-work to be originally executed ? The handsome carved 
door, a portion of the same wood-work, which, in Mr Masters'" 
arrangement, formed the north door of his church, is now the 
vestry-door for the clergy in the south transept of the cathe- 
dral at Ely. The Rev. Henry Fardell, on becoming vicar of 
Waterbeach in 1821, persuaded the rector, (without asking the 
sanction of the parish authorities,) to allow*him to appropriate it, 
and replace it with a plain one of oak, his notion being, that 

' Scpulrhral Slabs and Crosses, Plate liv. See also pp. 30, 44, 82. 
'^ Scpnlrhrul Monuments, Vol. i. p. cix. Plate iii. 



73 

it was intimately connected with, and therefore ouglit to be 
preserved in, the cathedral, where Alcock had been bishop, and 
of which he was himself a prebend. 

All the windows of the church were at first filled with 
painted glass, of which no more remains, than what we see in 
the uppermost portions of some of them. ^V'e might have ex- 
pected a fair number of ancient coats of arms in the tracery, 
but we find only those already described. 

The parish church of Landbeach before the Reformation, 
judging chiefly from the Mills of sevei-al of the old inhabitants, 
was well provided with the peculiar ornaments of a Roman 
Catholic place of worship. For, besides the customary high 
altar, and rood-loft^ with its proper furniture, it had a picture 
of our Saviour, an altar of S. James the apostle, with a lamp 
hanging before it, and, apparently, five images, namely, of the 
Virgin Mary, of our Lady of Pity, of our Lady, both at the 
chancel door, and in the chapel, and of S. Nicholas. 

The guilds, or benefit clubs of that period, were two, the 
guild of All Hallows, and Jesus guild. They were both kept in 
the church, and had their own small altars, their own priests, 
and the images of their patrons. There was, however, a be- 
quest by John Lane, in 1519, for the purpose of assisting in 
buildinrj a house for the former guild. 

One method of obtaining funds for the reparation of the 
church in early days was somewhat singular. Memorandum. 
In y^ xiii yere of the Rcyne of Kyng Henrie the vii [1498] 

1 The rood-loft at Guildcn Morden, 'the best in this county/ stands out 
into the nave full seven feet from the chancel : its slender banded shafts are 
still kept painted, as they were originally : the figures of S. Ethel wold and 
S. Edmund are on the front. Each side of the passage under it into the 
chancel exhibits two of these monkish verses : — 

Ad mortem diram, Ihesu, de me cape curam : 

Vitam vcnturam post mortem reddc securam. 

Fac me confessum rogo te Deus ante recessum; 

Et post decessum cclo mihi dirige gressum. 



74 

Maister Thomas Cosyn, Maister of the Colledge of Corporis 
Christi, and our blyssyd Lady, in Cambryg, and Maister WilHam 
Rakclyffe^, hath orde}Tiyd for the comyn wcle of the Tenants 
of Landebeche, that who sume ever sofyrth [suffereth] recclessely 
his flok of shepe to do any grete hurte or harme in the !Medow, 
or in the Feld, on there neybors Grasse or Come, for yche Flok 
schall pay to the reparachon of the chyrche of Landbeche be- 
fore rehersyd xii'. And then two individuals are named, who 
were required to pay this fine. Maister Morgon the viii day of 
]\lay hurte wyth hys schyppes the corne of dyverse men, for the 
whych he schall pay to the reparachon of the chyrche befor 
sayd xii'^ Item, William ^Marchall for a like faute xii^. 

In the library of Caius college ^ exists an old manuscript 
book exhibiting an account of church goods for the several 
parishes within the archdeaconry of Ely. It is entitled Veius 
Liber Archidiaconatus Miensis, and gives us generally the result 
of two separate visitations, which are distinctly marked by the 
character of the writing ; but, as regards Landbeach, the results 
of three, if not of four, visitations appear to be recorded therein. 

1306 Ecclesia de Landbeche non appropriata: habet Rec- 
torem, et taxatur ad x marcas. Solvit pro synodalibus ij\ iiij'' ; 
procurationibus xij*^ ; denariis sancti Petri ij^ Ornamenta sunt 
hicc : [ij •'^J missal bonum : duo* [iijj Antiphonaria bona : legenda 

^ These were the lords of the two manors, the first being also rector 
of the parish. A daughter of Sir Edward Ratcliffe, Knt. was buried at 
Landbeach in 1C08. Sir Edward, 'a fooHsh doctor of Physick,' had a bro- 
ther named Jeremy, who was one of the translators of the Bible, and, as 
a fellow of Trinity college, the sinecure rector of Orwell. He came from 
Hitchin, and, most likely, had no connexion with the family of "W^'illiam 
RakclyfFe. Cooper's Hist, of Cambridge, Vol. iii. p. 71 ; Athen. Cantab. 
Vol. I. pp. 203, 552. 

2 Num. 204, Art. 11, p. 81. 

^ This, and the three following insertions, in a much later hand. 

* This duo, and the next, scratched through; so also, under 1349, xl% 
quadragesimale being written on the margin. For an explanation of the 
books, &c. reference may be made to Rock's Church of our Fathers; 
Maskell's Monumenta Ritualia; and Clay's Ilist. of Waterbeach. 



75 

bona: [j]ij gradalia sufficientia: epistolarium : [ij] manual 
bon[a] : martilogium^ bonuiu : Duo [quatuor] paria vestimento- 
rum integra cum pcrtinentiis : pixis eburnea sub serura : iiij""" 
pliiole : fons sub serura-: ij cruces: turribulum bonura: duo 
vexilla. 

1349 capa chori^: duo calices argentei: Quatuor superpel- 
licia : Quatuor viole : velum xl'' quadragesimale : duo frontalia : 
Ordinale* de usu Sarum : unum antiphonarium ; et gradale ex 
dono I reetoris^ : Crismatorium. 

j' missale abreviatum, et unum antiphonarium bonum. 

Among the records deposited in the Public Record Office, 
Carlton Ride, London, is an Inventory of Church Goods, in 
which it is thus contained : — Landebeache. This is a trewe and 
perfect Inventorie indented made &; taken the iiij-'' day of 
August anno rcgni regis Edwardi sexti vj** [1552] by us 
Richarde Wylkes, Gierke, Henry Gooderich, John Huddleston, 
and Thomas Rudston, Esquyres '■, Commyssloners emongcst others 
assigned for the surveye & view of all maner of goodes, plate, 
Jewelles, Belles, and orniam*^^, as yet be remayninge, forth- 
comynge, & belonginge to y® paroche churche there, as here- 
after foloweth. 

Plate. Fyrste one Chalyce w^'' y" patent of Sylver, poiz. 
xvj''''. 

Ornam*". Item ij Crosses thone of Copper, two olde copes, 

^ Marty rologium sequiores vocant martilogium. 

2 This was in accordance with a constitution of S. Edmund, archbishop 
of Canterbury, in 1286. At that time the fonts were opened only at Easter, 
and Whitsuntide. Hence tliose highly ornamented covers, which were after- 
wards introduced, and of which some have remained until our own days. 

•* A cope for use in the chancel. 

* John de Stowe ? 

^ Added in a faded ink, and a third, and much later, hand. 

^ See a notice about three of these commissioners in Clay's Hist, of Water- 
heach, p. 42. John Huddleston, of Sawston, was afterwards knighted by Queen 
Mary for privately entertaining her at his seat on the death of her brother, 
and aiding her to escape from the mob, who took part with Lady Jane Gray. 



76 

thone of vvhight sattyn w*'' y'^ hole sute to y^ same, viz. deacon 
vestem' and subdeacon, and thothcr of dornyx\ A vestem* of 
grene velvet, A hole sute of blewe sylke, wantynge y^ cope, ij 
vestem*^' one of redde sylke, thother of crymson, & one other of 
blewe, one surplesse, ij Alterclothes of dyaper and ij Towelles, 

Belles". Item in the Steple there iij greate Belles, and one 
Sanctus BelP. 

All which parcelles above wrytton be dd [delivered] and com- 
mytted by us, the saide Commyssioners, unto the salve kepinge 
of John Gotobcdde, Thomas ^^^arde, Richarde Footte, and Ni- 
cholas Aunger, parisheoners there, to be at all tymes forth com- 
ynge to be answered. Except and reserved the said Chalyce poz 
xvj ounces, the saide Clothes Towelles and surplesse delyvered 
unto Henry Aylem, and Wylhnus Thyrlowe, Church Wardens 
there, for thonlie mayntenance of dyvyne servyce in the said 
paroche churche. Rychord Bonsalle Curate. + by me llychard 
Foott. 

Another inventory of church goods is in existence, connected 
with the seventeenth century, and preserved among the parish 
documents, more curious in some respects even than the forego- 
ing. This Indenture witnessethe that John Thorlow, and Thomas 
Foote, Church^vardens of the parish of Landbcach for this present 



1 A kind of stuff used for curtains, cai7)cts, and hangings, so called from 
Doom!, 01' Tournay, where it •^•as first made. A celebrated manufacture of 
it flourislicd at Pulham in Norfolk. 

- The royal commissioners only left one bell out of four. See p. C>fi. 

•' This bell was different from the sacring bell, and used for a different 
purpose. The sanctus bell was rung to indicate, that prayers were about to 
begin ; the sacring bell, on the elevation of the host and chalice after con- 
secration. Jewel's Works, Vol. i. p. 292; JNIaskell's Ancient Liturgy of 
the Church of England, p. 98, edit. 184G. The sacring bell in England 
down to the Reformation was generally a small hand-bell, carried by an 
attendant. Sometimes, however, it was a larger bell suspended on the 
outside of the church in a small turret directly over the chancel arch, and 
rung from below. The former was evidently the kind used at Landbeach. 
See p. 7y. 



year 1613, doe acknowledge, that there is belonginge to the 
Church of Landbeach aforesaid, and w<='' we have received by a 
former bill Indented from the precedent Churchwardens, theise 
severall thinges that followe, viz. : 

Imprimis a silver Cvppe w*' a Cover damasked for the Com- 
munion. 

Item a stoupe of pewter for wyne. 

Item a table for the commvnion. 

Item a carpet of blewe satten \ 

Item twoe old table Cloathes. 

Item a svrples for the minister. 

Item an old svrples w^'^out sleeves^. 

Item a bible of the largest volume. 

Item a booke of common prayer w"' psalmes. 

Item a booke w*'' singing psalmes for y'' Clarke. 

Item the paraphras of Erasmvs [upon the GospelsJ^ 

Item ij bookes of Homelies. 

Item the booke of Cannons [of 1603-4]. 

Item a peice of silke reniayninge of the commvnion carpett. 

Item a great chest barred w"" Iron w"' ij lockes to keepe the 
bookes and lynnen. 

Item another barred chest w^'' iij lockes for the poore mens 
boxe\ 

Item a litle chest w'" iij lockes for the Eegister of Christ- 
ninges, marriages, and burialles^. 

Item a register booke for the same Christninges, &c. 

^ See canon lxxxii. 

2 The vestment. A garment formerly worn by the ministering priest 
at the celehration of the holy communion. Clay's Book of Common Prayer 
Illustrated, pp. .30, 100. 

•^ See Cranmer's irork.<t, Vol. ii. pp. 1.55, 15G, 499, 501. Park. Soc. 

* See canon lxxxiv. Our Prayer- Book, too, until 16G2 recognised, in the 
rubric immediately after the offertory, the poore mennes boxe, as a regular 
article of church fui-niturc. 

'' See canon i.xx. 



78 

Item a hearse [bier] for burialles. 

Item a standing Lectorne. 

Item a litle bell vnhanged. 

Item ij ladders a great and a lesser. 

Item a booke for strange preachers \ 

Item a booke of Articles^. 

Item since the entrance into o' office we have bought the 
booke of Bishop Jewell commanded by authoryty^ — the w'^'' w"' 
all other particulars hearin mentioned we acknowledge o' selves 
by theise presentes charged to deliver to o"^ successors at the ex- 
piration of oure office. 

The church plate consists of two stoops, or flagons, of pewter, 
a larger and a smaller, antique in shape, with a silver cup and 
cover. This silver cup has on it For the toicne of Landbeach. 
The cup and cover are both beautifully ornamented, and were 
once very handsome : they are now much worn, and battered. 
Since they are without any of the usual Assay Office letters, we 
cannot determine their date. There is only a v within a heart- 
shaped indentation, and that on the cup, the private mark of the 
maker, or seller. The ])arish possessed them, however, in 1613, 
because they are accurately described in the list of church fur- 
niture of that date. 

The churchyard contains two perches less than half an acre. 
Near the east end of the church are stones with these inscrip- 
tions : — 

Sacred to the ISIemory of Robert Masters, B.D. F.S.A. the 
faithful and diligent Rector of this parish, whose Charity to the 
poor, and Humanity to the distressed, rendered his life truly 



^ See canon lii. 

- See canon cxix. 

^ Archbishop Bancroft ordered, in IGIO, that copies of the whole works 
of Bishop Jewel should be placed in churches. Cardvvell's Documentary 
Annals, Vol. ii. pp. 120, 127. Archbishop Parker had previously commanded 
The Defence of the Apology to be placed there. 



79 

exemplary, and his death lamented. He died July 6"', 1798, 
aged 84 years. 

Sacred to the Memory of William Masters\ vicar of Watei*- 
beach, who, by a constant residence, and due attention to paro- 
chial duties, lived well respected, and died July 5"', 1794, aged 
35 years. 

In memory of Mary, eldest daughter of the Kev. John Tinkler, 
B.D. rector of this parish, and Rebecca his wife, who died Nov. 
12, 1854, aged 8 years. Also, of Annie their second daughter, 
who died March 16, 1847, aged 9 days. 

A new mode of paying the parish clerk was adopted by the 
inhabitants in the seventeenth century. The original document is 
thus headed : — A Eatc of the Houses for the clark''s wages, to be 
pay' quarterly, made 22 September, 1639. The parish is divided 
into Green End, and Land End ; and the sums, which vary from 
vj ' to j", amount altogether to 19'. 6'. At the bottom is : — And 
the said wages is to bedn at Michaelmas next. And the dark 
is to release his former accustomed wages of j' an House, and the 
Exhibition from the Inhabitants commonly called Dinners- vsed 
to be given him at 2 feasts of the year, viz. Easter and Christ- 
masse: Onely he shall retaine his accustomed Dueties at Church- 
ings, Marriages, and IJurialls. In one of the register books John 
Micklebourgh records his having chosen Sept, 15"', 1737, Richard 
Levet senior to be clerk in the room of John Allen lately de- 
ceased. Also, in his room, on April 15'^'', 1754, he chose John 
Handly. 

The second register book has at the end some account of the 

^ For a somewhat singular description of him, see Beloe's Sexagenarian, 
Vol. I. p. .52. 

^ In poore Countrey Parishes, where the wages of the cleike is very 
small, the people, thinking it uniit that the clcrke should duly attend at 
church, and lose by his office, were wont to send him in Provision, and then 
feast with him, and give him more liberality than their quarterly payments 
would amount unto in many years. Prynne's Canterhurles Doome, p. 143. 
The town house was probably used for this feast. See p. .38. 



80 

various collections, which were made in the church from 1660 to 
1685. A few of the more noticeable ones are here given : — 

July 7, 1661, [Collected] for William Nevill, Esq.) 
of the county of Clare, Ireland '. . . .J 

Aug. 11, 1661, For Philip Dardulo. a converted) 

Tm-ke. ......'...} * *'i 

Oct. 27, 1661, For the Ministers of Lythuania . 7 4 
Nov. .3, 1661, For the Fishing Briefe ... 67 
May 4, 1 662, For a shipp lost in Ireland . . 3 6^ 
Feb. 28, 1663-4, For Repayring the Bridge at) 



2 4 
Thrapston in Northamptonshire 

Sep. 24, \(j6'). Collected towards the Briefe for) 

T 4 

J ewes J 

Collected towards the Blowing up] 

of Rogers his house in Dover in> 2 10 

the county of Kent . . . J 

Nov. 13, 1670, For y*" Redemption of Captives) 

out of Turkish slavery j ^ 

March 19, 1670-1, For Michael Kys, and Peter) 

Kys, Hungarians j 

March 25, 1677, For 30 Hungarian Ministers . 5 6 

Sep. 26, 1 680, For the Algerine captives . .225 

Jan. 1 , 1 681-2, Collected towards y^ Relief of the) 

French Protestants \ 

March 19, 1681-2, Collected for Poland . . . 3 7 

Feb. 4, 1683-4, Collected for Rebuilding y^ Parishl 

Church of Portsmouth j 

The parish registers, the scries of which is quite unbroken, 

date from 1538, a child being borne and cristened^ on 18"' 

^ The sum gathered on this occasion has been omitted. In the year 1G61, 
beginning and. ending with Lady day, were twenty-two collections for public 
and private objects, the contributions of the parishioners being £G. 19*. Id., 
that is, about £2ii of our present money. 

^ This is at first the usual form. 



81 

October in that year, though tlie letter of Thomas, lord Cromwell, 
lord pri\7 seal, and vicegerent to the king's highness, ordering 
such documents to be kept, was merely issued in the previous month 
of Septeraber\ To Henry Clifford their present completeness is 
principally due. He caused the first entries, as well as a portion 
of the others, to be fairly copied out, and joining to them what 
remained, compiled, and handed down to his successors, an ex- 
tremely interesting and valuable volume. For eight years the 
baptisms, marriages, and burials, are all mixed u]) together ; but, 
beginning with l'A6, they occupy, yet not without exceptions, each 
its own portion of the book. In the new arrangement of the en- 
tries the Beryinges are placed first. In 1578, and the succeeding 
year, the plague carried off a few of the parishioners : the family of 
Mr Hutton chiefly suffered'. In loDO George Smith, fawlekner, 
was buried ; and likewise George Garrett, the oulde clarke. 

Among the entries for lo62 occur the following strange re- 
marks: — Pope, the fox Will eate no grapes, and Win, he caa 
not git y"' ; so at this towne thei loue inglish seruis, because thei 
can haue none other, as apperith bi the candilberae^ & rodlofte, 
as I think: iudge you by me. Nicolas Nemo. a.d. 1594. This 
could only have been written by some one, whose sentiments 
leant strongly to the Puritans, and who wished to insinuate, that, 
from the continued existence of the candilbeme & rodlofte, the 
inhabitants of Landbeach were still inclined to popery. 

' Holinshed, \o\. iii. p. 80G, edit. 1807; Burnet's Hist, of the Reforma- 
tion, Vol. I. Append, p. 180, edit. 1G81. 

^ The plague was at Cambridge in 1574, and again in 1593. 

^ The rood was sometimes supported by a beam, sometimes by a gallery. 
The latter was called tlie rood-loft, the former the rood-beam, or the candle- 
beam, from the great candles set on high candlesticks, and placed on each 
side of the rood. Much emulation was shewn in supplying these high candle- 
sticks. Perhaps, from both being said to belong at the same time to the 
same church, (unless only one is meant under the two terais,) the candilbeme 
is to be here explained by circulus ccreus pendens super trabeam in cancello 
coram sacramento altaris, no uncommon thing in our parish clmrches before 
the Reformation, and which might not have I)een removed in 1594. 

G 



82 

The entries under the head of Beryiuges are closed with a 
quotation from Scripture : — JSIarvell not at this, for y' hower shall 
come, in the which all y* are in y'^ graues shall heare his voice, and 
they shall come forth, that have done good, vnto y'^ resurrection of 
life ; but they, that haue done euill, vnto the resurrection of con- 
demnation. John 5, vers. 28, 29. Finished and Subscribed by 
me Henry Clifford clerke w"' my owen hande. 1598. 

The division of the register-book headed Nuptiit? ends thus : — 
Mariag is honorabull amonge all men, and the bed vndefiled ; but 
whoremongers and addulterers God willJudge. Heb. 13 vers. 4. 
Finished and Subscribed by me Henry Clifford clerke w'' my owen 
hand. 1598. 

The Cristennynges come last. During William Whalleye'^s 
incumbency, that is, from 1554 to 1558, the names of the 
sponsors are uniformly added. His tendencies were, of course, 
Roman Catholic. After the last entry is — This is life eter- 
nall to know the. The only trew God, and Jesus Christ whome 
thou hast sent. John 17 vers, 3. Finished and Subscribed By 
me Henry Clifford clerke w'' my owen hand. 1598. 

The second register-book is but a duplicate of the first, from 
1560 to 1597, the entries for that ])criod being all fairly copied, 
and duly arranged. Commencing with 1597 it was used for 
recording such christenings, marriages, and burials, as continued 
to take place in the parish. At the beginning is written : — 
Registrura ecclesie parochialis do Landbeche Eliens. diosis, Eeno- 
uatum penultimo A[)rilis, Anno Regni Regine Elizabethe, Dei 
gratia, Anglie, Francie, et Hibernie, fidei Defensoris &c. quad- 
ragessimo — et Anno 1598. After the baptisms for 1G53-4 the 
following comes: — This tenth day of December 1653, Wil- 
liam Foote being elected the Parish Register [Registrar] of the 
towne of Landbeach is approved of by [me], and sworne for the 
due execution of his office before me. Talbot Pepys^ Such 

^ Recorder of Cambridge. See Nichols' Topographer ayul Genealogist, 
Vol. HI. pp. 97, &c. 



83 

an appointment had been rendered necessary by an Act of Par- 
liament passed the preceding 24"' August. AVilham Foote ap- 
pears to have carefully executed his office, which he held only for 
about four years, since in 1G57 W Kawley, and the churchwardens, 
again signed the parish register-book. Under 1675 we find 
this entry properly attested : — Sara Munns, the wife of Francis 
Munns, an Inhabitant in this parish, a IJeligious and Deuout 
woman, did in all humility give and consecrate to God, and 
to the vse of this parish, a faire Communion Cloath of Diaper, 
and a Towell of the same, vpon Easter day, being the 28"* 
of March, in the yeare of o"" Lord God, 1630, she deceasing 
the same yeare: And to this Gift she had the Consent and Ap- 
probation of her Husband. As witnesseth his hand subscribed. 
The Mark of -t- Francis Munns. Witnessed by W. Ilawley, 
Kector Ecclesitc. John Thurloe, William Annis, Churchwardens. 
Toby Clifforde. 

Among the marriages for the year 1566 we have : — The Twoe 
and Twentye daye of October wasmaryed ]\lister Richard Kyrbye, 
and Mistress Margaret Merryalle : this Mister Kirbye was 
caryed to Church in a Chayre. He was lord of the manor of 
Bray, and died in the following February ^ Richard Bawdricke, 
and Florance 'NV^rite, were joyned together in matrimonye the 
Twentieth daye of October. Memorandum, that this Florance 
was his fyft wyffe. 

Under 1597 this occurs :—Mayster Henrye Gotobed, the 
Elder, Howskeeper, was buryed upon the Fyft daye of the Moneth 
of December in the yeare above wrighten. The verses, which 
follow, are hardly deserving of transcription, except for the affec- 
tionate feeling displayed in them, and to show, what kind of things 
found their way into the register-books in former days. 

Since lis my Chance to wright his names Recorde, 
who in his lyfe was Father vuto me; 

' Sec p. 25. 

G 2 



84 

He Wright tlieis lynes vppon his lyfes afforde [[worthy, 

who at his dcathe a very sayntc was hee. 

Then blame not mce, what ere yow are, my frend, 
That would not have his prayscs at an end. 

Couldc I Ingrosse his lyfes eternall prayse, 

his lamblike, lovinf^, lowly meecknesse, 

his honest yowth, his aged latter dayes, 

which shone as fayrc, as dooth the sonnl} e brightness : 
Yf in Compare such brightnesse maye be sjioken, 
his Meeklye liart was vertnes lovclye token. 

He was that dove, that sent his \jts2 soule to heaven, 

and offerd yt to Joves celestiall shrine; 

and set the worlde at verye syx and seaven 

only with sayntes together to Combine ; 

And brcathd out lyfe vnto the worldes disdayne, 
hoping to winn a better lyfe againe. 

Wright by me John Gotobed anno domini 1598, Eegine 40. 
John Gotobed not only composed the above lines, but wrote 
them, together with the entry of his father's burial, in the 
register-book : he alludes to the latter circumstance in the 
first line. 

Richard Foote, late Clarke of the parish, was buried February 
16*^, 1646-7. Toby Flavill, late dark of the parish, was buried 
June 28***, 1659. Thomas Sparrowe a Crisome^ child was buried 
March 5'\ 1663-4. 

We may now turn to the wills^ of the fourteenth, fifteenth, 
and sixteenth centuries, and see what information it is possible to 
glean therefrom in relation to the parish of Landbeach. This 
information, however, will be found to be almost entirely connected 
with the church, and its furniture, on which points it is very full, 
and interesting. 

^ Unbaptised. See Bibliotheca Topog. liritan. Vol. i. Append, to Heme, 
pp. 181, Sec. 

" The extracts from these wills have been taken chiefly out of Mr Mas- 
ters' book of Collectanea de Landliearh. In Bccon's Works, Vol. iii. pp. lin, 
&c. Park. Soc. we liave a complete formula for an early Reformation will. 



So 

Henry Chaumherleyn made his will on the festival of S. Vincent 
[22 January] 1344-5, Among his directions are: — ante corpus 
meuni die sepulture, nomine principal [mortuary], equum meum 
meliorera, et ad distribuendum pauperibus, et exequias meas 
celebrandas, triginta libras. Item ego lego decern libras ad cele- 
brandum in proximo anno post-obitum meum ; et facio et constituo 
Dominum Thomam, filium meum, militem, et Dominum Johan- 
nem [de Stowe], Rectorem ecclesie de Landbeche, executores 
meos. Et omnia residua bonorum meorum do et lego predictis 
Thome et Johanni ad missas celebrandas, et ad pauperibus dis- 
tribuendum, prout melius viderint anime mee expedire 

William Keryclie [Keteryche]i made his will 20*** October, 
1479 : — Lego corpus meum sepeliendura in ecclesia parochiali de 
Landbeche juxta patrcm meum : summo altari pro decimis oblitis 
vj' viij'^: fabrice dicte ecclesie pro sepultura mea vj' viij*^:- Abba- 
tisse et conventui de Denney ad custodiendum anniversarium meum, 
parentum meorum, et benefactorum, Ixvj* viij*^ : Katerine filie mee 
pro suo maritagio, et ad ipsam salve custodiendam, xiij'' y'f viij**, 
cum pervenerit ad logitimam ctatcm ; et si contingat dictam Kate- 
rinam obire antequam pervenerit ad dictam etatcm, quod absit, quod 
dicta xiii" vj' viij'' traderentur Domine et conventui de Denney ad 
custodiendum predictum anniversarium in pcrpetuum : iiij" ordini- 
bus Fratrum^ in Cantabrigia viij' : residuum omnium bonorum meo- 
rum lego executoribus meis ad disponendum pro anima mea, paren- 
tum, et amicorum meorum, prout eis melius videbitur expedire : 
Abbatisse et conventui de Denney pro debito patris mei x" : item 
predicte Abbatisse et conventui pro Domina Elizabet filia mea, 
pro unione professione et introitu ordinis Domine predicte Ix' : 

1 A John Keterich was successively bishop of S. David's, of Lichfield 
and Coventry, and of Exeter, between 1414 and 1419. 

2 Evidently the fee for burial (within the body of the church) was to go 
to the maintenance of the fabric. 

•^ The four orders of mendicant friars, the Austin (the Hermits of S. 
Austin), the Dominican or Preaching (black), the Franciscan (grey , and the 
Carmelite (white). 



86 

item volo quod Domina Abbatissa de Denney, Doraina Agnes 
Keryche sorores mee, et Domina Elizabet Keryche filia mea 
habeant x\\ 

Henry Lane^ senior, by his will dated 9"' April, 1493, leaves 
among other bequests to y*" torches vj' viij'' : to the abbesse of 
Denney for diuerse trespasses on her connyes [conies] ij":* to the 
said abbesse and convent to be prayed for xx** : to y'^ high altar at 
Waterbeche ij' : for mending the ways y""" xx': Mast. Kobert 
Halytreholme preyst to be my preyst, and to syng and praye for 
me by the space of a year, and have for his salary c^ : to each of 
my god children, and to every childe of my kynne and blod an 
ewe and lamb : to his son Henry his creke plough and iiij mares : 
to Henry his little macer - with ij silver spoons : to Thomas his 
old maser with ij silver spoons. 

Ds. John Simi/n^^ capellanus, by will dated viij Jul. 1496, 
orders his body to be'buried in the churchyard near his parents : 
for a taper to burn before the ymage of the blessed Virgin, to have 
pity upon his soul as long as may be, vj" viij*^: to the torches vj' viij'' : 
to the repair of the bells xx' : to the convent of Denney x' : to 
every household in Landbeche xij'' : to JMast. Cosyn, master of 
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, a book called Pupilla Oculi^ ; 
and to Mast. Seyntwary, fellow, meum parvum portiforium. 

William Richerd., by will made in 1504, leaves to the sepulchre 

' As lady of the manor of Waterbeach cum Denney she had a right of 
free warren also in Landbeach. 

- Macer, maser, and mazer, was a drinking bowl originally of maple wood, 
whence its name, derived from a Dutch word. Tlie name Avas afterwards 
ai)plied to all bowls of the same form, or used for tlie same purpose, of what- 
ever material made. 'J ymms' Bury WilL; pp. 230, 24G ; Masters, Append, 
p. 84. 

^ See p. 89. 

■* Omnibus presT)ytcris, precipue Anglicanis, summe necessaria. Dib- 
den's Tiipoymphkal AntiquH'ies, Vol. in. p. 20. A work by John de Burgo 
[Burrough Green], wlio was chancellor of the university of Cambridge in 
V,MV), 'of the very highest authority on the laws ecclesiastical, which were 
then in force in Eimland.' 



87 

light' XX': to the picture of our Saviour vj' viij'; and to a priest 
to sing masse x\ 

Elizabeth Racclt/ffe, by will dated 6 March, 1505-6, desires 
to be buried in the church near her husband William : she leaves 
to the high altar iij* iiij^ : she wishes to have a Priest to sing 
mass for one year for her soul, and for the souls of. Thomas 
Kyrkeby [her first husband], and of William Radclyffe, their sons 
and daughters : she gives to her son Robert Kyrkeby xP. with a 
silver salt and cover to his wife : to her sons Richard, and Ralph, 
Kyrkeby \'f viij'' each. 

Agnes Wyllijs, widow of William, by will proved 24th April, 
1518, bequeaths to the high awter of Landbeche duas pelves; and 
to Sir Robert de Knaresborough' unam crucem argenteam et 
auratam, unumquo lapidem in ejus extremitate continentem. 

Jolm Lane^ by will dated 14th March, 1518-9, beijueaths to 
the mayntaining of y" sepulchre light iij' iiij ' : to the reparacion 
of y*^ churche xP : vj" of clene wax for a torche, to remayne to the 
said churche : to the paving of y'' stretes, if hit may be performed, 
xx**: to y° Gilde of All-Hallowes, or towards making a howse for 
the Gilde, xj'; with small legacies to the churches at Water- 
bcche, and Milton. 

Thomas Lane, by will proved 4th June, 1519, orders his body 
to be buried in the churche of Landbeche before the image of 
S. Nicolas by the grave of his father : he bequeaths to the high 
awter iij' iiij'': to the reparacion of the body of the church xl": to 
the belles vi' viij**: to the sepulchre light vj"" viij*^: to the Gilde 
of All Hallo wes xx**: x" of waxe for a torch : to every householder 
xij"*: to each of the four Orders of Friars in Cambridge iij' iiij'^r 
he leaves also legacies to Waterbeche, and Milton ; to Mast. 
Pykerynge, Parish Priest^ of Landbeche, iij' iiij** to pray for his 

^ The Easter, or holy-week, sepulchre used to have lights set before it. 
Zurich Letters, Third Series, pp. 200, &c. 

^ Capellanusi 

^ As Peter Nobys, the rector, was non-resident, by Parish Priest may be 
meant curate. 



88 

soul : Sir John Howe, clerk, to singe masse for his soul iij dayes in 
eche weke for one year, and to have v" for so doing, and assisting 
every Sunday at divine service*; and to have an obit kept for 
him. 

John Kirhi/^ by will proved 23rd March, 1520-21, orders his 
body to be Ijuried before the awter of S. James : he leaves to 
the high awter ij'; and to Fryer Richard Kilborne x' for a tren- 
talP, &c. 

Robert K'lrhy^ gentleman, by will dated in March, 1520-2], 
orders his body to be buried in the church before the altar of 
S.James: he bequeaths to the high awter ij': to the Gilde of 
All Hallowes vj' viij*': to the awter of S. James vj' viij'': to the 
belles vj' viij*^: to his wife the manor^ place, &c. 

Thomas Page, whose will is dated 14th May, 1521, bequeaths 
to the high altar a comb of barley: to the belles three bushels of 
barley ; and to the Gilde of All Hallowes one quarter of wheat. 

Alice Lane^ widow of John Lane, leaves money in 1526 to 
Jesus Gilde, and Jesus Masse. 

John Warde, by will proved 19th March, 1.j2S-9, bequeaths j" 
of waxe to our Lady at the chancell dore. 

Edward Lane^ by will proved 5th February, 1529-30, leaves 
to the sepulchre light xij'': to the belles iij' iiij*^: to the torches xij*^: 
to All Hallowes light j'' of waxe : to the Rode j'': to our Lady in 
the chapellj''; and to our Ladye of Pitye'^j": he styles Mast. 
William Sovvde his curate, and gostly father superior. 

Rohert Greye^ gentleman, by will proved 28th April, 1534, 
bequeaths to his three daughters Christian, Dorothy, and Johan, 
XX ewes and lambs eche with a cowe and calf; and ccc loads of 
gravel for the towne. 

•" He was to occupy a stall in the chancel, and to form one of the choir. 

- A trental consisted of thirty masses said by threes within the octaves of 
ten fixed festivals of the church. Latimer's Works, Vol. i. p. .50, note 1, Park. 
Soc. 

^ The manor of Bray. See p. 25. 

■* See Mrs Jameson's Legends of the Madonna, pp. '2G, &c. edit. 1857. 



89 

Robert Smithe bequeaths by will, proved 1 6th September, 1 587, 
to John Witton his sworde and buckler, &c.; and to Sir John 
HalywelP his new sadall. 

William Thurlowe, by will proved 12th November, 1545, be- 
queaths to the cawsey of Landbeche Ixxx loads of gravel. 

Nicolas Aun(jer, by will proved 21st March, 1555-6, leaves 
to the parson [William Whalleye] v': to the churche xl': to the 
Poore box vj' viij"^ ; and to the Highwayes v^ 

Gregory Lynton^ at his death in 1569, bequeaths to his 
brother Gilbert of Long Melford his sword and hangers. 

The rectory-house stands at the south-east corner of the 
churchyard within a brick wall and fence : the ground around it 
measures about an acre and a half, which is nearly all laid out as 
a garden. Large sums of money having of late years been ex- 
pended upon it, it makes now a convenient and satisfactory 
residence, except that it is situated too much below the level 
of the road. A portion of the house consists of the remains of 
the original dwellinof, that erected in the middle of the fourteenth 
century, and contemporaneous with the tower, and chancel, of the 
present church. The other parts are chiefly renovations, modern 
improvements, and additions. Mr Masters enclosed the open 
space between the north and south wings to form the hall, 
added the staircase, and gave a new west front to the whole : 
Mr Burroughes contrived the drawing-room by a new arrange- 
ment of the interior, and made its bay-window ; and Mr Tinkler 
added the stone porch. Hung up in the hall, are three well-exe- 
cuted coats of arms on wood, preserved in all probability for their 
workmanship, one having the arms of Zouch-, (with a file of three 
points for difference,) and of Whitmore^ quarterly ; whilst of the 

^ Curate to William Sowode. 

- The Zouches were the descendants in the female line of the earls of 
Brittany. Ellis' General Introduction to Domesday Book, Vol. i. p. 3G6. 

^ Sir George VV^hitmore, Knt. a distinguished native of Shropshire, was 
closely connected with Waterbeach. See Clay's History of that parish, pp. 
76, &c. ; Burke's Landed Gentry, Vol. ii. p. 1577. 



90 

others one bears sim])ly the arms of Zouch, gules, ten bezants 
4.3.2.1, the other the arms of Whitmore, emerald, frette, 
topaz. 

Sir Thomas Chamberlayne, the founder of the church, may 
have erected also the habitation for the rector, which was at first, 
as is quite evident from what we yet see, entirely of stone, and 
occupied the space covered by the north and east sides, with 
probably a part of the south side, of the existing building. It 
was arranged in some measure according to the collegiate plan. 
For, of the two doorways, which still excite our curiosity, with 
a little nieh for an image between them at the top, and their 
many Decorated ornaments, one was the entrance to the usual 
buttery for bread and beer, the other led to the door of the 
parlour. That the notion respecting a buttery there, notwith- 
standing the ornamentation, is correct, we may gather with cer- 
tainty from the terms of Thomas Cosyn's lease of the rectory in 
1512^, whereby he expressly retained certain chambers over the 
Parlor (the present dining-room) and Eotry for his own use. 
The chambers intended could only be such, as were wont to 
be reached by a staircase to the cast of these two doorways, 
which staircase Mr Tinkler partly removed in consequence of 
a new application of the space, while the upper portion of it 
he closed up. Mr Burroughcs alluded to the same staircase, 
when, wishing to prove the antiquity of a part of the rectory - 
house, he wrote, ' the steps up to the chambers being all solid 
prisms of timber."* Thus, therefore, what serves mainly for the 
kitchen was in the sixteenth century, and always had been, the 
great hall, where the rector took his meals, and entertained 
his guests, who were furnished with their requirements, at least, 
of bread and ale, from the ' Botry ' at the north end of it. This 
view of the matter will greatly help us to determine, to what 
purpose the crypt, which has been such a puzzle, was applied. 
It is now a wine cellar : it was in early days a cellar for 

' See p. 52. 



91 

beer, and whatever else the rector chose to provide for his 
ordinary occasions, and festivities. The crjpt is still in the 
same state, as when it was built, only then it extended further 
towards the east; and, like the two doorways, can hardly be 
conceived to have more ornament, than was consistent with the 
style of the period. The roof of the crypt is vaulted agreeably 
to its Decorated character : it is of brick cemented, and has for 
a boss a rose ; moreover, other roses are ranged in a line on 
each side. On the north side are also two coats of arms both 
belonging to Bishop de L'lsle, one his family coat, as given on 
p. G9, but without the bordure, the other a fanciful coat\ 
which he adopted on becoming bishop, gules, a chevron, or, 
between three trefoils of the second, slipped, argent. 

The rectory-house must have been in a very dilapidated state, 
when William Sowode obtained the living in 1 528. For we find 
him boasting, a few years later, of the money, which he had spent 
upon it, and promising, like a good and conscientious man, to be 
equally, if not more, liberal for the future-. In what way he was 
accustomed to lay out his money, he does not tell us. One thing, 
however, we do know ; that he put up on the east side of the 
great hall, exactly in the centre, an oaken chimney piece ten feet 
wide, because it has at the one corner a W, and at the other 
an S. He may have erected likewise the Tudor arch leading into 
what was from of old the ' Parlor,' and which has been for some 
time blocked up. The style of the arch coincides with the age, 
wherein he lived. The only other observation, in reference to the 
rectory-house, which it seems necessary to make, concerns the 
carved wood-work opposite the buttery. This dates, most likely, 
from about the year 1 GOO, or a little later ; and w^as possibly 
placed, where it now is, when the rector, whoever he was, thought 

1 He had another coat of this kind, gules, on three bezants the three 
kings of Cologne. Bedford's Blazonri/ of Episcopacy, p. 39. Archbishop 
Parker used five private seals. 

2 See p. 68. 



92 

proper to confine the dimensions of the great hall, and to provide 
for a larger degree of comfort, and convenience, to those, who 
usually inhabited it. On the other hand, Mr ]\Iasters may have 
subsecjuently introduced it, as some say he did, relying on his 
well-known taste in such matters, and somewhat also on tra- 
dition. 

A long series of churchwardens'' accounts exists, from 1639 to 
1681, both inclusive, bound up at the end of the earliest register- 
book. From these are here printed a variety of extracts illus- 
trative of the history of one parish during that most important 
period, and bearing, no doubt, in some degree, upon the history 
of other parishes, particularly, of such as are near. 

1639 For a balricke for the sance^ bell . 
Payd for 2 bookes for the church 
Payd for the pore manes boxe, «S:c. 
Payd for the breade and wine at bothe the 

communinges at Whissontide 

Payd for one bell rope- 

Giuen to a pore minister 

Payd to JohnAVisdome for painting the pulpit 
Payd Ducking for mending the schoole bowse 
Payd for our booke of articklcs, and oure 

Elye fardinges, and taking our othes 
Spente for our dinners at the visitation 
Payd for perfume for the churche'^ . 

^ This is also styled ' the saintes bell/ both terms being corruptions of 
sanctus. See p. 76, note 3. 

^ No further entry about the bells will be given. These entries are 
throughout so numerous, as to shew, that bell-ringing was much practised 
at Landbcach. It was a very expensive amusement. 

^ Frankincense was burnt at the dedication of chancels and altars ; more- 
over, on great festivals, to air and purify the church preparatory to its being 
used, and at the reading of the first lesson. Hierurgia Anglicamt , pp. 9, 
180, &:c. 188, oC5, 395 ; George Herbert's Priest to the Temple, ch. xiii. 



£ 


,?. 


d. 








4 








10 





13 


10 





9 


4 





2 











6 


1 











1 


10 





2 


1 





9 


() 





1 






• 93 

£ ■". J. 

Payd Richard Foot for making clene the 

schoole hovvse 6 

Payd for a hoodc for our minnister . . 16 6 

Payd for 33 pounde of soder ' . . . . 1 13 
Payd for frankecum sence .... 006 

Payd for breade and wine at the commu- 

niones at crismus 9 8 

Payd Wisdome for his laste paynting of the 

pulpit 5 

Payd for making the hearse [bier], Sec. . 7 6 

Payd Smith and TipLady for earring the rope 

in frith fenn 10 

Payd to 2 poore woman that had lose by fire^ 4 
Spent on the ringers on the crounation day 

[2nd February] 10 

Payd goode Fison for washing the 2 surplices 10 
Payd for the breade and wine for the 2 cora- 

muniones at Ester 12 

Payd Pattricke for whiping the doges % for 

one holle yeares wages 10 

Payd Wisdome for his yeares wages for 

glasing the Church windoes . . . . 12 
Giuen him in earnest for 6 yeares more . 6 

Eeceied for the Church lotf* . . . . 13 4 

1 The state of the leads of the clmvch was diligently attended to. Many 
entries occur in each year respecting them. The sums thus laid out were 
considerable. 

^ A very frequent entry. 

3 Dog-whippers was a usual term for the parish beadles, or vergers, so 
also for the bedesmen of cathedrals, as it still is. Dogs must have been 
much more common formerly, than they are now ; besides, churches were 
left more open. Bishop Montagu, in his Visitation Articles of 1G38, asked, 
whether dogs were kept from coming to profane the Lord's table 1 Altar 
rails are partly due to the fear of such profanation. Heylyn's Life of Arch- 
bishop Laud, pp. 289, 832. 

* See p. 45. 



94 • 

£ s. d. 

Receied for Rent of the towne land . . 1 10 

Receied by a Rate 10 4 3 

Receied by a nother Rate . . . . 4 14 
Receied the ouer pluse since the last yeare 

"from the laste Church Wardens . . . 2 G 9 

1640 Spent when we and our sides men^ were 

sowrne 019 

Layed out at the perambalation for tow dayes 

on the people 16 10 

Layed out for tow bookes for the faste . . 1 10 

Payed for one booke of Cannons^ and one 

prayer ......... 10 

Layed out on the ringers on gunpowder 
treason daye^ for beere ..... 2 9 

Layed out for twice washinge the Com- 
munion Clothes 2 

Payed to the pariter [apparitor] for a prayer 
for the parlement, and bringinge woord of 

y^'fast 6 

. Layed out for our Ely farthinges . . 6^ 

For washinge the church lininge, and scowr- 

inge the Stoopes 16 

Layed out on Ester daye and low Sundaye 

for the Conuuuniones .... 10 1 

1641 Geiuen to twoe Souldyiers^ .... 2 

^ Sidesmen, or Synods men, do not appear to have been chosen in Land- 
beach after 1671. Some parishes in Cambridge, and elsewhere, still choose 
them. See Johnson's Cloyi/man's Vnde Mecum, Vol. i. pp. 108, 169, edit. 
1723. 

^ Could these be the abortive Canons of 1C40 ? For an account of them, 
see Cardwell's Synodalia, Vol. ii. pp. 593, &c. 

^ An entry regularly repeated, as might have been expected from the 
complexion of the times. 

To explain the frequency with which similar items occur, it should be 
remembered, that Landbeach was on the direct road from Cambridge into 
the Isle of Ely, and therefore to Lynn. 



95 

£ X. il. 

Spent on Kinge Charles his birth daye, the 

19 of November 16 

Geiuen to the Herdman in earnest . .006 

Geiuen likewise to the hoggard^ for earnest 6 

1642 Geiuen to 13 Irisha people .... 1 
Spent when we went to the Justices to take 

Protestacion, and to deliver in a bilP . 13 

Paid for the heardsnian"'s home . . . 2 

Paid for the Peticyon wryteinge . . 6 

1644 Spent att Cambridge of 12 men that went 

about the peticion against the Doctor* . 6 6 
Paid to John Annis for writeinge the Coue- 

nante, and parchment .... 020 

1645 Layed out to one pore man that was burnte 

by the rebelles in Ireland .... 6 

1646 Layed out for mates for the Chansell . 2 
1648 Goodman Laurance for laieing doune the 

grafe"' 3 4 

For woode for the setes in the porch*' . 10 
1650 Paid Will Smith for floering the schole 

house' 3 

Paid for washing the towne lining . . 8 
Paid goodman Lawrence for defaceing the 

kinges armes 2 

^ It is mentioned in the vestry-book under l7th April, 1655, that Henry 
Safford was liyred to keepe the Swyne vntill one fortnight after the Parson 
cryd a hawcky, att 4'' per Swj'ne per quarter. 

■^ Irish people are common objects of relief from this time. 

^ A written statement of grievances. 

* This petition against Dr Rawley, the rector, may have been on religious 
matters : the date of the entry seems to favour the notion. Cole says, ' Raw- 
ley, probably, conformed during the usurpation.' 

•'' The churchwardens always took the fee, G*. 8c?., for a grave in the body 
of the church ; but hardly for one in the chancel. See p. 85, note 2. 

" There arc no seats now. 

^ This has long ceased to exist. 
































3 







G 



96 

£ *. d. 

1Q51 Giuen to a poore man and three chillderen 
which came out of Chessheere, and had a 

certevecate 4 

Giuen to one which had binn a souldger in 

the Pari, servis seauen yeares and had a 

certevicate for to goe to the bath for euer, 

and to be releued in his Journie . 10 

1G52 Payd for 4 raatts for the people to knelle on 

at the Communion^ 

1653 Spente at towe monthley metinges . 

Spente at House at a monthley metinge ^ . 

1656 Ellefardens^ 

Giuen to a plundred mincster 

1659 Giuen to a poor minster and his wife and his 

daughter and 4 chilldren .... 9 
Payd to Patterick for this years wages for 

kcping the dogs out of the Church . 10 

For washing y*' towne linin and scowring the 

flagons 8 

1660 Paid to the l^ainters for scting up the Kings 

amies 2 5 

Paid to the Parritcr for a booke for keping 

the fast for y" Kings death^ . . . 1 10 

' No mention of the purchase of hread and wine for the communion has 
occurred since the year ending at Easter, 1 (liS, nor will again occur until 
1607 ; yet, from this entry, and a similar one under lf;4G, so likewise from 
several other entries, it is quite clear, that the sacrament of the Lord's Supper 
was accustomed to be administered. The provision of the elements is uni- 
formly recorded after IGG". 

'^ Of the magistrates. All the public business for the Cambridge district 
was then transacted at the hamlet of Howes on the Huntingdon road, near 
to (iirton, and some of it, down to a very recent period, at a public house, 
the only remains of the hamlet. 

•' A mistake exists in this item. The Ely ferthings amounted only to 
Gld, even if money still continued to be paid on that account. See p. 31. 

* This occurred previously to the drawing up even of the first of the 



i 



97 

1661 Laid out on the Coronation day [23'^' April] 8 

1662 Paid for a sourvis booke^ .... S 

Paid for a surplis 2 5 

Paid at the Bishowp visitation ... 050 

For makino: cleane the school house lande . 6 
Paid at the Archdecon Visitation for our 

diners, &c 10 7 

Paid for the Kings Letters .... 6 
Paid to gooddy AV'airaan for Washing the 

lining and pewter 14 

Paid for Washing the Surplis twice . . 2 

Paid for a booke of Articles ... 010 

1663 Giuen to a man taken by the Turkish 

pirats 10 

Spent at the archdeacons visitation for din- 
ners for our sclucs, and the sids men, and 

Ely farthings, &c 3 6 

1664 For the home mending. .... 008 
For the Church booke 4 6 

1665 Paid for two bookcs one for the thanksgiuc- 

ing, and another for the fast^ ... 010 

For washing the surplis against the feast . 10 

Spent at a. Bonefier 6 

Paid for carieing the broaken bell to Cam- 
bridge 10 



two Forms of Prayer for J30tli January mentioned in the Si/nodus Anglicana. 
See Clay's Book of Common Prayer Illustrated, p. xv, note. 

' The last revised edition. 

■■^ Charles II. issued, 20th December, 1G62, a Declaration announcing his 
intention of mitigating the rigor of the late Act of Uniformity ; ostensibly, 
to ease the Dissenters, secretly, to fiivour the Roman Catholics. 

^ A Fast was observed, 5th April, for the success of tlie war against the 
Dutch ; and, 4th July, a Thanksgiving for the victory obtained over them, 
3rd June, off Harwich. 






1 








1 


3 








6 





G 


2 



98 



Paid for washeing y*^ Surplis & table Linnen 

at Michaelmas 1 last .... 020 

1666 Spent on the Ringers on the thankesgiueing 

day 16 

Paid for ] booke «fc 2 proclamations for a 

thanksgiuing and humiliation- . 
Paid for making the Church Cloath, and silke 

1667 Paid to a poor Minister which came w"' his 

Majesties Letter 

Paid for bread &d wine for two Communions 

1669 Paid to three poore men which came w"' 

Letters Testimonial for a loss by fier . 8 

Paid to Mr Dornington for warchinge for 

the Breefe for the fier at London . .020 

1670 For shooting and destroying the Jackdayes 

in the church 10 

For mending and washing the surplis and 

other linen at Michaelmas .... 2 
Spent at Toby Leaches when the townes men 

mete about our rate, and the overseeres . 2 
Giuen to a minester that had a losse by the 

fier at london 

Paid for workemanshipp about the graues 
For a quarter [of a pound] of frankinsence^ 

1671 For a new common prayer book 
Giuen to seuen trauelers which had a cer- 

tifficate to testifye their losses, and for 

their logging 3 

^ The first intimation of a regular quarterly comnaunion. 

^ A Thanksgiving was kept, 14th August, for successes over the Dutch. 
There was a Fast, 10th October, on account of the Fire of London. 

•' None had been bought, it seems, since 1639. The custom, however, 
of fumigating churches did not die out until several years after 1G70. Hie- 
rurgia Anglicana, pp. 18o, 184. 



2 


6 


3 


8 





3 


12 






s. 


rf. 


1 





2 


1 


2 


m 


2 


1 


1 








6 


1 


G 


1 






99 

For two bookes for the fast . . . . 

For bread and wine after haruist ... 
Paid at y'' visitation of y*' Archdeacon for 

Ely farthings 

For bread & wine for the holy Communion 

at Michaelmas 

Paid for 2 books for the fast .... 

For mending of the hood 

Paid to a poore man which came w"' the 

broad Seale for a loss by sea .... 

For two bookes for the fast .... 
Paid to the Chanceler's man, when he came 

to visit the church 2 6 

Paid to the widdow Sparrow for washing the 

surplis Mr Rawlie gave to the towne . . 

Paid for bookes for the fast .... 

For mending the hood 

Two bookes for the fast — december 22 . 
To a man with a letter of request for loss by 

fire 

Paid for two books of the Kings declaration' 
Paid for bread and wine for two communions 

about S. Michaell 4 2 



THE RECTORS. 

Mr Masters mentions ^ three priests as possessing the 
rectory of Landbeach in the twelfth century, William, Bernard, 
and Bartholomew. However, from researches prosecuted sub- 

* A Deqlaration stating the causes, why he had dissolved the last two 
parliaments, was, on the advice of Archbishop Sancroft, read in all the 
churches. 

^ Append, p. 20. 

H2 



1 





1 








6 





8 


1 





1 


2 



100 

sequently to the publication of his History of the college, he 
discovered, that he had been led into error, and had assigned 
to Landbeach what really belonged to the neighbouring parish 
of Watcrbcach. The first rector, that we actually have any 
account of, is 

Mast. Pers de Cantebngg, who was presented in the reign of 
Hen. IT. by Aleyn de Beche, and died after holding his prefer- 
ment two years. The exact date of this presentation we cannot 
ascertain, but it could only have been early in Henry's reign. 
Aleyn de Beche presented, because he held land of Sir William 
de Peverel, and Sir William's property had been divided among 
his sister's by 1168^ 

WiUiam^ the son of Humfrey, had the king's letters of 
presentation, 19th May, 18 John [1216], to the church of [Land] 
Beche, the donation whereof pertained to the king, because the 
lands of Robert de Beche, son and heir of Aleyn de Beche, were 
in his hands-. 

William de London succeeded to tlie livino; in the reign of 
Hen. III., and before the year 1229''. He was presented 
to it by Robert de Oeche himself. He held the rectory twenty 
years, and died at Landbeach. 

Bichard de London^ was rector 40 Hen. III. [1255], and 
must have then been so for several years, as Robert de Beche 
(who died about 1 210) gave him also the presentation. Richard 
de London continued rector twenty-four years, and like his pre- 
decessor died at Landbeach. 

Mast. Laurence de Mannehye was presented to the rectory 
by John le Bere, eldest son of Helen de Beche, and guardian to 
John Avenel, her great nephew. 

' Seep. 11. 

" He had seized upon them on some pretext or other. 

^ See p. 51. 

■* Cole's MSS. Vol. viii. pp. 1, &c. Thomas de London was in 1273 one 
of the brethren of the order of Servants of tlic Blessed Virgin Mary, the 
Mother of Clirist, in Cambridge. 



101 

Thebaud [Theobald] le Clmumherleyn was presented by his 
father, Sir Walter. He held the rectory a very short time. 
The document styled a Eemembraunce arranges these ancient 
rectors in the order here adopted ; but, as in 1255 Sir Walter was 
granted the liberty of presenting after the death of Richard of 
London', perhaps Thebaud le Chaumberleyn ought properly to 
have been placed before Laurence de Mannebye. 

David de Offi/ngton was presented by Walter de Rives at the 
request of Mast. Henry de Wengham'-'. The Le Chaumberleyn 
family were still, however, the actual patrons for the turn : 
demora le presentee Walter avandit. David de Offyngton was 
rector two years in the reign of Hen. HI,, and then resigned 
his preferment. 

John le Chaumberleyn was presented by his father Walter, 
grandson of Sir Walter, before the end of the reign of Hen. III. 
A fortnight after Easter, 27 Edw. I. [1290], Phihp le Fitz- 
Hernys nominated him to the rectory of Eltisley, whereupon, ' par 
la pluralite,"' he was obliged to vacate his living of Landbeach. 
This date should be 27 Edw. III. [1353] according to Cole 3; 
but he is certainly wrong. There was a second clergyman in 
the family with the same Christian name. Johannes le Chaum- 
berleyn was ordained an acolyte by Bishop Montacute, 5 Kal. 
Aprilis, 1338, and subdeacon, 4 Kal. Aprilis, 1342. 

Richard de Walpol^ was presented, and, apparently, in 1299, 
by John le Bere, nephew of the John le Bere before mentioned. 



^ See p. 48. 

2 Henry de Wengham or ^Vlngham was lord cliancellor from 1 2-5.5 to 
1260. He became bishop of London in 1259, and died two years after. 
Lord Campbell's Hist, of the Lord Chancellors of England, Vol. i. pp. 130, 
131. 

^ Collect. Topog. et Genealog. Vol. v. p. 865. 

^ Ralph de ^Valpol, from 1271 to 1288, was archdeacon of Ely, and rector 
of Scmiersham ; he also became successively bishop of Norwicli, and Ely. 
Another Richard dc AValpol belonged, 9 Kal, Augusti, lo41, to the convent 
of Hermit friars of St Austin at Cambridge. 



102 

and grandson of Helen de Beche, as guardian to William Avenel, 
great grandson of her sister Isabel. 

Thomas de Berningham died rector in 1308. A dispute imme- 
diately sprung up respecting the right of appointing a successor \ 

John de Herdewick had been in possession of the rectory, 
16 Edw. II. [1323], for some years, but how many is uncertain. 
He died at Landbeach. Thomas in the Heme was chaplain here 
2 Edw. III. [1328], and, possibly, during John de Ilerdewick's 
incumbency. This rector manifestly belonged to a family of some 
importance in the county, since we read of Robert de Herdewyk, 
who in the reign of Hen. III. held a manor in Comberton, the 
adjoining village to Hardwick. John de Herdewyk, vicar of 
Comberton, had permission, 13 Kal. Aprilis, 1343, to perform 
divine service during his illness, and also to have it performed, in 
an oratory in his own house. 

John de Stoice was rector, 4 Kal. Februarii, 1345-6^. For 
Bishop Montacutc by a document of that date granted him 
the office of penitentiary, or confessioncr, to all his parish- 
ioners, except in the five cases, which were wont to be reserved to 
himself. John de Stowe had probably been rector some little 
time. He died of the plague in 1349. Bentham supposed the 
diocese of Ely, consisting as it did merely of the Isle of Ely, and 
the county of Cambridge, to have then had 145 incumbencies, 
(now the same extent of country has 17<>,) and Bishop de 
L'lsle's register shews for the year 1849, beginning and ending 
with Lady-day, an admission of 92 clergymen, more than one 
half of the whole number of incumbents, though some few parishes 
occur twice"'. A\'illiam L'atcman, bishop of Norwich, founded 
Trinity Hall, 15th January, 1349-50, in consequence of the same 



1 See p. 48. 

- Wiirunn dc Stowe was admitted about the same time a member of the 
Guild of Corpus Christi. Masters^ p. 7. 

■' Cole's MSS. Vol. xxrir. pp. 72, &c.; Bentham and Stevenson's Hist, 
of Ely Cathedral, Vol. ii. Notes, i^p. 87, 88; Fleetwood's Chron. Precws.]).7C). 



103 

plague, to secure a regular supply of clergy for his diocese ^ The 
members of his college were chiefly to cultivate the study of the 
canon and civil law, in both which he was himself a great pro- 
ficient. 

Richard Abbat, of Eryswell, was presented to the rectory, 
18th June, 18i9, by Sir John Avenel, Knt., the patron for that 
turn, in succession to John de Stowe. There had been an ex- 
change of rights, and Henry le Chaumberleyn was allowed to 
present a few years before to Eryswell. Richard Abbat had a 
licence of absence for a year, 4th May, 1353. 

Sir- John atte Church'\ of Teversham, is said to be rector of 
Landbeach in a deed dated 44 Edw. III. [1370] ; but it is not 
known by whom, or when, he was appointed, nor, therefore, how 
long he held the living. He is the John Teversham, fellow, of 
the college documents ; and was one of the executors to Thomas 
de Cambridge, who died in 13{)1, and to whose effects the above 
deed relates. This Thomas de Cambridge was the son of Sir 
John de Cambridge, Knt., justice of the King's Bench, whose 
capital messuage, &c., opposite Michael House on the south side, 
was taken in 1853 for the new site of Gonville Hall '. A member 
of the family of Atte Church, a priest living at Comberton, was 
admitted, 2nd May, 1344, to the vicarage of St John Milne-street, 
Cambridge: another was parson of Stokken Pelham [Pelham 
Stocking] in Hertfordshire in 1350; and a third, who is described 

^ Blomefield's Hist, of Norfolk, Vol. ii. p. 3G2 ; Peck's Desid. Curios. 
pp. 289, &c. ; Cooper's Memorials of Cambridge, Vol. i. pp. 110, 114. 

^ A priest was the third of the three Sirs, which only were in rc(fuest of 
old, to wit. Sir King, Sir Knight, and Sir Priest. See Narcs' Glossary, and 
Nichols' Literary Anecdotes, Vol i. pp. GGl, G02. The oddest mixture of 
titles imaginable, and yet not an unusual one, though applied to a clergy- 
man, occurs in the register for burials at Bemerton : — Mr George Herbert, 
Esq. Parson of, &c. 

^ Among the gentry of Cambridgeshire in 14.33 was Johannes Attcchercko 
de Ilowis. Atte Church would seem to be equivalent in meaning to Kirkby, 
or Kirby. 

^ Cooper's Memorials of Cumhridge, \o\. i. pp. 84, 14^^ ; Masters, pp. 8, 24. 



104 

as de Theversham, presbyter, was instituted to the vicarage of 
Hinton 2oth November, l.'3o2, on the presentation of the rector. 
John atte Church was admonished at Landbeach, 4th July, 1374, 
by Nicolas Iloos, the bishop's commissary, John Campion being 
present, and witnessing the proceedings, to look out immediately 
for some friendly and fit person to be his coadjutor, because he 
was hin^self senex, et valetudinarius, ac corporis sui viribus desti- 
tutus. Great com})laint had been made against him, that, under 
the influence of one Amija Bernard, he had dissipated the goods 
of the church, and was allowing the rectory to go to ruin. Robert 
de Eltislc, rector of St Andrew, Histon, providus ac discretus vir, 
was appointed his coadjutor the following 9th December, only a 
few days before his deaths 

Thomas de Eltlsle, J. U. B.-, nephew of Thomas de Eltisle, 
the first master of the college, was instituted 1 1 Kal. Jan. [22nd 
December], 1374, having been appointed to the rectory by his 
uncle, and William de Horwodc"'. Thomas, parson of Lambeth, 
Jiad presented him to the rectory of Eltislc in 1351, he, and his 
brother Alan, having two years before purchased that advowson, 
together with the two medieties of the manor, from Sir John de 
Goldyngham, Knt. of ChigwelP. The nephew had not been long 
inducted, when, on receiving in exchange the rectory of Grant- 
chester, he resigned Landbeach in favour of his uncle, 

Thomas de Eltisle^ Dec. Bac. master, who was instituted 4 Kal. 
Aprilis, 1375, and held the living together with his mastership. 
This rector was chaplain to Simon do Langham, bishop of Ely, 
(archbishop of Canterbury in 13G6, lord chancellor, and a car- 
dinal,) as he had been before to Archbishop de Stratford, three 
times lord chancellor, who died August, 1348. He is the 

^ Cole's MSS. Vol. xr.i. pp. 19, 20. 

- Juris utriusque [canonici et civilis] baccalaureus. 

•* Mayor of Cambridge in 1349. See Masters, pp. 12, 24, He was a 
priest. Cooper's Annals of Cambridge, Vol. i. p. 98. 

^ Morant's Hist, of Essex, Vol. i. p. ICo. Sir John, and Eleanor his wife, 
were niemhers of the (niild of Corpus Christi at Cambridge. 



105 

Thomas, parson of Lambeth, just referred to, since he held that 
Hving, to which ho may have been collated by Archbishop de 
Stratford, with other preferments. For William de Savere, 
parson of Gritton [Girton], granted, 26 Edw. III. [1352], to 
Thomas de Eltisle, parson of Lanibhithe, and Henry de Tang- 
mere^ of Cambridge, a messuage in AV^aterbeche near the bank 
of the river. Thomas de Eltisles arms, like those of all the 
masters of the college down to the present day, are engraved in 
Lamb. He died 21st August, 1376. Upon his death 

Sir Johi Campion, fellow, became rector 6 Kal. Septembris. 
He had been presented to the living by Robert de Eltisle, 
another nephew of the deceased master, and John Raysoun^ of 
Fulborne, both late fellows, and the patrons, with William de 
Horvvode, (by appointment of that master 49 Edw. II L [1S75]) 
for the turn; both, also, his executors'. The former, whose name 
has already occurred in connexion with John atte Church, was 
rector of Lolleworth : the latter, rector of St Benedict's parish^ 
which he presided over for about thirty years, being at the same 
time much concerned in the transactions of the college. John 
Campion, then chaplain, had been attorney with John Redele, of 
Landbeche, for Sir John de la Lee, Knt. in giving up the manor 
of Chamberlayne to Thomas de Eltisle, master, 40 Edw. III. 
[1366]. Some proceedings relating to his will, which was proved 
5 Kal. Martii, 1379-80, (Johannes Campion, presbyter, being 
executor,) are recorded between June and October 1380, in the 
register belonging to the Consistory Court of the diocese of Ely''. 

Sir Adam de Leverington., fellow, succeeded to the rectory 

' Masters, p. 21 ; Lamb, p. IG, note. 

2 John Raysoun with others, as lords of the manor, made free, 1 Rich. II. 
[1377], Roger, the son of Henry Sandre, with all his fomily. 

3 Robert de Eltisle did not prove himself very honest in his responsible 
charge. Masters, p. 20; and Append, p. 20. 

" ■* The great tithes of this parish Avere not appropriated to the college until 
1578. Baker's MSS. XoX. xxx. pp. 1G2, &c. 
■ Vol. I. foil. 137, 141, 143. 



106 

4 March, 1 379-80 \ John Kynne, master, and other claimants 
both of the manor, and advowson, joining in the presentation". 
He was the same year proctor for the college, who wished to 
appropriate the rectory of Grantchester, and establish a vicarage 
there. As one of the attornies for Sir William Castleacre, Knt., 
of Great Eversden, he delivered over certain lands and messuages 
to Thomas Bradefeld, and Isabella his wife, 15 Rich. II. ^ Now, 
since Adam de Leverington is styled in the legal document rector 
of Landbeach, he must have held his preferment at least down 
to 1391. It is a mistake, therefore, to state, as has been done 
by an extraordinary oversight, that his immediate successor was 
rector in 1384'. 

John de Neketon^ [Necton], D.D. 1383, fellow, was the next 
rector of Landbeach, but the exact time of his becoming so 
does not appear. ]\Ir Masters says, with great probability, that 
it was in the year 1391 or 1392. He had been ordained 
deacon 12 Kal. Octobris, 1376. He was chancellor of the univer- 
sity in 1384, and again in 1392. John de Neketon obtained the 
mastership of his college about 1389 ; and, on his death in March, 
seemingly, 1397-8, his name was inserted in the list of those 
benefactors, for whose souls the university was then wont to pray. 
He belonged to a Norfolk family. 

Thomas Bodae)/e, fellow, M.A. 1390, was instituted 28 ]\rarch, 
1398. He was still rector, 12 Hen. IV. [1411], when he made 
over to the college the property at Landbeach, which Thomas 
Bradefeld had, the year before, conveyed to him and others for 
that purpose. Thomas Bodneye may have continued to be rector 
until 1429, in which year 

Adam ClerJce^ was presented to the living on the resignation 
of his predecessor. As rector he had a lease for ninety-nine years 

1 See p. 68. Hugh de Leveiyngton was rector, and proctor, of the uni- 
versity in 1.315. 

' P. 40 ; Masters, Append, p. 21. 3 See p. 20, 

■* Mastev.s, p. 38. ^ g^^. p 44 



107 

from the college, the Christmas after his institution, of a piece of 
the orchard belonging to their manor, partly a Garden, partly a 
Rekyard, and adjoining the rectory-house, at an annual rent of iiij^ 
The following 2()th February the same body let to him the whole 
of the orchard, w'ith one house called Shepene, and with one 
garden, as well as every thing contained within the inclosure, near 
the parsonage, at the rent of xx* a year, for nine years. Adam 
Gierke was one of the executors to Richard de liillyngford, D.D., 
master, who died in 1432. Sir John Gierke, probably, a brother 
of Adam, was chaplain here from 1429 to 20 Hen. VI, [1441], 
and made a trustee of charity property in 1461. Thomas Brooke 
was also chaplain at Landbcach, and in 1461 Thomas Wood- 
ward. The rector himself died in 1462, when, 2nd May, he was 
succeeded by 

Richard BrocJier, B.D. fellow \ He was a benefactor to the 
college, and founded the first scholarship. His scholar he re- 
quired Bibliam legere coram M""" et Sociis in Prandio, aut alias, et 
in fine Lectionis orabit in Latinis verbis, primum nominando 
Mag. Brocher inter alios, sic dicendo, Anima 31" Brochcr requi- 
escat in pace. He died at Landbeach in 1489. His will is dated 
the last day of 3Iay, 1487: a codicil to it was made 2nd November. 
The following is a portion of the former : — Gorpus meum sepelien- 
dum in cancello Ecclesie Parochialis de Landbeche juxta sepul- 
chrum Ade Gierke predecessoris mei. Item lego Gonventui de 
Denney xx". Item lego Ecclesie de Waterbeche vi' viij''...Item 
lego Priori de Bernewell, qui nunc est, [William Tebald] ymaginem 
S" Johannis de auro et Perlis contcxtam. John Seyntwary, after- 
wards himself rector of Landbeach, was one of his executors. John 
Swayne was chaplain in 1481. Upon Richard Brocher ""s death 

Thomas Cosyn^ B.D. master, was presented, 25th January, 

1489-90, by Elizabeth, dowager duchess of Norfolk^. Thomas 

Gosyn was chaplain to that lady, and the college had made over to 

her their right of presentation. In 1490 he became chancellor of 

> Masters^ p. 45. '' See p. 22. 



108 

the university, in 1501 doctor of divinity, and in 1504 the second 
Lady ■\largarefs professor of divinity. John Wysett, probably, 
served the church in, and from, 1512. Thomas Cosyn continued 
to hold the rectory of Landbeach until his death, 9th July, 1515, 
when he was succeeded, 12th August', by 

John Scynticary^ B.D. fellow. Mr ^Masters prints a curious 
letter written to him, when president of the college, by Thomas 
Cosyn, the master, which is well worth a perusal. A portion 
of it has been already quoted". John Seyntwary was one of the 
university itdiles for inspecting the building of St ]\lary's church, 
which was begun in 1478, and finished, except the tower, in 
1519^ lie died about February, 151 G-7. His will is dated 
1st October, 1516 : — His Body to be buryd in the chappell within 
St Benctt's Chyrche at Cambridge, if he dyes at Cambr., or at 
Landbeche, if he dyes there. He queths to Corp. Chr. Coll. liij' iiij' 
towards the makin"; and formino; the Howse for Munimentts, kiC. : 
to the hy awt"" of [Land] Beeche xx' ; to every of the four orders 
of Friers in Cambryge iij' iiij ' : the howse wherein Henry Gibson 
dwcllcth, whereof he had given his part to y" fores' College, to be 
ordered and apply'd to the comfort of his Soule, by y" advice of ^Ir 
Ja. Cursun, ]\Ir Peter Nobys, and Mr John IMarris : to the master 
x' ; and to every fellow v' : to the coHedge his ^Masse Book and 
Chaless, after the decease of John ^farys, fellow : to James Cur- 
son, also fellow, hys spectaculls inclosed in syluer. John Seynt- 
wary named Peter Nobys, and John ]\[arys, his executors, and gave 
to either of y°^ for y' labor xl\^ 

Peter Xohy,-;, B.D. became rector 18th February, 1516-7., a 

' Caius ColL MSS. No. 204, p. 5Qb. Tlie mandate for Jolin Seyntwary 's 
induction was dated 17th August^ 1515, as we learn from Bishop Stanley's 
register. 

" Sec p. 22. •' Lamb, pp. 58, 59. 

■* This has been made up from Lamb, p. 310, and Baker's MSS. Vol. ai. 
]>. 20G. The witnesses, according to the latter, were Mr Edw. Hedge, 
I'arson of St Benetts Church, Cambr., and S"^ llichard Sylvester, Fellow of 
}>en. Cull. 



109 

year after his appointment to the mastership of the college. He 
was presented by John Purgold, LL.B.\ to whom the turn had 
been granted for that object. In 1519, in which year he took 
the degree of doctor of divinity, Peter Nobys obtained a licence of 
non-residence for three years from Bishop Fordham, in order to 
be able to take a journey to Kome on matters intimately connected 
with the college. One of his curates appears to have been named 
Pykerynge. Sir John Howe, Sir Robert de Knaresborough, and 
Fryer Richard Kilborne, were chaplains during his incumbency. 
Peter Nobys, having held the living rather more than six years, 
resifvned it, as he did also his mastership, about midsummer, 1523, 
and retired to the priory of Thetford in Norfolk. With the prior 
and convent of that place he had made an arrangement, 26th 
November, 18 Hen. YIII. [1521], in conjunction with Sir Thomas 
Wyndham, Knt. of Felbriggc^. They had paid a hundreth and 
thrcttye markys \y viij ', and in return Peter Nobys was to have 
oon annutyc or annuall rente for terme of his naturall lyff of five 
markys, and an honest stabill to sete two horsys, a bedde chambyr, 
and a stoodie chambyr, another howse for haye and strawe, and 
his pleasure to walke in the gardeyn of the said priorye, and a 
howse therein for fewell and woode : the prior and convent were to 
kepe yerclie for evyr a solempne dirige with note with ix leccions, 
and a masse of requiem on the morrow after, also with note, for the 
soules of the donors, and some of their relatives : lastly, their 
names were to be mentioned in the prayers at all the services of 
the prior and convent''. 

Jo/m CuUi/ng, or Cutty ngs, B.D. 1520, fellow, succeeded 
Peter Nobys 25th June, 1523, having first agreed to allow him 
five marks a year out of the profits of the living, until he should 
obtain some other ecclesiastical preferment of that value. He 
had a lease from the college of the Hall yard, and of a certain 

1 Cooper's Athen. Cardnh. Vol. i. p. o4. 

2 Blomcfield's Hut. of Norfolk, Vol. iv. pp. 308, &c. 
^ Martin's Hint, of Thetford, Append, pp. -^O, S<c. 



110 

garden plotte abiittinge on the churchyard and parsonage, for the 
term of his natural hfe. John Cuttyng was one of the preachers 
licensed by the university. He died at his rectory-house in 
1528, and left a small sura of money for keeping his exequies 
annually on the beheading of St John the Baptist (Aug. 29)^ 
He was followed in the living, 8th September, by 

William Soicode, B,D. 1528, master, on the presentation of his 
friend Edward Fowke, clerk, and fellow, to whom the college had 
assigned the turn for that purpose. In 1525 he had been made 
vicar of Madingley, which parish he was still incumbent of in 1537, 
though he must have resigned his charge no long time afterwards. 
AV'illiam Sowode was one of those, who not only adopted the 
opinions of the Reformers, but did his best at Cambridge to 
bring over others to the same sentiments-. Similar praise is due 
to Edward Fowke. He departyd out of this worlde to God xxix. 
Nov. 1544, and was buried in the chancel of his church. From 
some writing on the fly leaf of the oldest register book we learn 
the name of one of his curates, John Halywell, in 1537^. For 
though Mr James Hutton, and Syr \Villyam Reve, prysts, were 
buried here during his incumbency, the former in 1538, the latter 
in 1544, from the short description given of them, they could 
liardly have held that office. Matthew Parker, one of the regu- 
larly appointed university preachers, records his having entered 
upon his duty by preaching at [Land] Bcche, among other vil- 
lages, in Advent, 1533^. On Wilham Sowode's death the living 
came to 

Thomas Cob, Cobbe, or Cobbis, M.A. 1531, fellow. He died 
very soon after his institution, which took place 11th December, 
1544, since, 20th October, 1545, his father, Robert Cob, obtained 



Masters, p. G8. 
2 Foxe's Acts and Monuments, Vol. iv. pp. C20, GoC, edit. 1843. 
See p. 89. Edward Halliwell was elected to King's college in 1532. 
Cooper's Athen. Cantab. Vol. t. p. 240. 

^ Correspondence «/" Parker, pp. 288, 230, 481. 



Ill 

permission to administer his effects. Thomas Cob had been suc- 
ceeded, 22nd September, by 

Matthew ParJcer, D.D. 1538, master, subsequently archbishop 
of Canterbury, He was presented by John Porie, fellow, and John 
Mere\ gentleman, to whom the college had granted the turn. At 
that time he was dean of Stoke by Clare, a prebend of Ely 
cathedral, and rector of Burlingham in Norfolk, all which prefer- 
ments he still continued to hold. In 1552 he was presented to 
the non-residentiary prebendal-stall of Corringhara at Lincoln, 
and also made dean of that cathedral'. Matthew Parker, having 
held the rectory of Landbeach rather more than nine years, was 
canonically deprived of it, 2nd April, 1554, for being married, as 
well as for refusing to conform to those rites and ceremonies, which 
he had lately rejected as superstitious. He then went with his 
wife and childi-en to live in retirement among his Norfolk friends. 
In the rectory-house at Landbeach there now exists a portrait of 
him on canvas, in his archiepiscopal robes, holding a staff for sup- 
port in his right hand, and in his left hand a book, a very early 
copy from one painted in 1572, when he was sixty-nine years of age. 
The original is in the master's lodge, and is wrongly ascribed to 
Holbein, who died of the plague in 1543. Three of his curates, 
expressly so styled, died at Landbeach, Johannes Amnes in 1546, 
and Henricus Johnson, together with Georgius Howson, in 1551, 
the last, sudore pestilenti correptus^. In 1552 Richard Bonsalle 
was curate. As regards the numerous works, which Matthew 
Parker either compiled or edited, recourse must be had to the 
several books mentioned below *. 

1 Fellow of King's college, and one of the esquire bedels, M.A. 1529. 
Dying in 1558 he left Dr ravker an executor of his will. Ihid pp. 17—10, 
37 ; Masters, Append, pp. 40, 47. 

'■' Correspondence of Parker, p. 482. 

•■* Heylyn's Hist, of the Reformation, Vol. i. pp. 233, &c., Ecclcs. Hist. 
Soc. ; Hooper's Lata- Writings, pp. 189, 157, &c.. Park. Soc. This sweating 
sickness gave occasion to the introduction of the word ' sweat ' in the last 
rubric after the service for the Communion of the Sick. 

Cooper's Athen. Cnntab. Vol. i. pp. 332, &c.; Strype's Life, pp. 504, &c. ; 



112 

Sir William Wkalleye'^^ B.A., prebend of Lincoln, was insti- 
tuted, SOth September, 1554, to the rectory. He was recom- 
mended by Matthew Parker, who, in the previous December, 
necessitate quadam, had chosen Laurence Moptyd, 13. D. president 
of Gonville Hall, to the mastership of the college. ^V^illiara 
AVhalleye departed from y'^ lyfTo xxvj daye of Septcmbre, 1558. 

Johm Porie^ B.D. 1535, master, was presented to the rectory, 
the following 21st October, by Edmund Edwards, fellow, and 
Andrew Pilkyngton, literatus, of Cambridge, the turn having 
for that purpose been assigned to them. The next year he 
took the degree of doctor of divinity. John Porie held many 
ecclesiastical preferments, and among them in succession was a 
prebendal stall at Ely-', Canterbury, and Westminster ^ Arch- 
bishop Parker appointed him one of the Commissioners for 
visiting the dioceses of Ely and Peterborough. In the Return 
respecting his clergy made by the bishop of Ely to the arch- 
bishop, 28th January, L5G0-G1 ', we find — Landbeach Rectoria. 
]\rr Joannes Porye, Rector ibidem, est saccrdos, tpiandoque residet 
ibidem, quandoque alibi, ut supra, [alluding to his being also a 
prebend of Ely] est TheologicC Professor, et ad pra^dicandum 
habilis, et habet specialem pradicandi facultatem a Domina 
Regina, et exercet eandem : alit Ilospitium ibidem. Later, how- 
ever, in his career, being old and infirm, he was for the most part 



Correspondence of Parker, pp. xiii, 298, 425, 420, 483 ; Brydges' Restituta, 
Vol. I. pp. '}, &c. ; Select Poetry, Vol. i. pp. xiii, xiv, Park. See. 

^ Edmund "Whallcye was fellow of St John's college, M.A. 1528. Cooper's 
Athen. Cantah. Vol. i. p. 117. 

'■^ Fuller makes Dr Younge, master of Pembroke college, and rector of 
Stretham, ' at first a parcel Protestant, afterwards a zealous Papist,' one of 
the rectors of Landbeach, and also John Porie's immediate predecessor, an 
error perpetuated by Bentliam ; whereas he ought to liave stated, that Jolm 
Porie succeeded Dr Younge iu his prebendal stall at Ely, on his deprivation 
in 1559. Worthies of England, Yol. in. p. 437 ; Cooper's Athen. Cantab. Vol. 
I. pp. 427, &c. 

J hid. pp. 320, 821 ; Correspondence of Pavkcr, pp. G3, 64, 358. 
Baker's iJ/AW. Vol. xxvii. p. 108. 



113 

resident on his living of Lambeth, to which he had been collated 
in 1.363 ; wherefore the archbishop persuaded him to resign, 
February, 15G9-70, not only his mastership, but his college pre- 
ferment. In his early days he is mentioned by Foxe' as a strong 
promoter of the doctrines of the Eeformation. Sir William Glas- 
coke was his curate in February, 1566-7. He died, as is sup- 
posed, in 1573, leaving a will dated May, 1570. 

Henry Clifford^ M.A. 1565, was that fellow of the college, in 
whose favour John Porie resigned the rectory, and who conse- 
quently entered upon it, 27th February, 1 5(59-70. The same year, 
in which he was presented to Landbeach, he married Elizabeth 
Eaye, by whom he had four sons, and five daughters : two of 
those sons, John, and Toby or Tobias, married and settled here. 
His eldest son, Henry, B.A. 1594, was non-residentiary prebend 
of Stow in the cathedral of Lincoln, and vicar of Corringham, 
where he died 16th February, 1628-9". Henry Clifford died at his 
rectory-house, and was buried in the chancel of the church, 28th 
December, 1616. From the entry, under the year 1586, of the 
marriage of ]\royses Fowlers, B.D. 1583, fellow, (ultimately dean 
of Ripon,) and Katherync Ray, we learn that Mister Thaxter 
(John Thaxter, B.D. 1583, fellow,) was then preacher in the 
Parishe churche of Landbeche^. Henry Clifford was connected 
with the ancient baronial family of that name^, which fact, during 
an enquiry after him by some members of Heralds' College, was 
affirmed to Mr Masters, when himself rector of Landbeach. He 
claimed a toft opposite to the church, as glebe belonging to the 
rectory, because in a terrier-book it was called gardinum rectoris. 

^ Acts and Monuments, Vol. iv. p. G20. 

- Peck's Desid. Curios, p. 292. 

^ Cooper's Athen. Cnntuh., Vol. ii. p. 480. 

* He was preacher in other parish churches, also, as John Cuttyng, 
Matthew Parker, and John Porie, had been. In ir>97 there were at Cam- 
bridge 122 preachers 'almost all unprovided for.' Whitgift's Works, Vol. r. 
pp. 318, 544. Park. Soc. ; Latimer's Works, Vol. ii. pp. 324, 329. 

° Nicolas' Historic Peernge, pp. Ill, &c. 

I 



114 

The college farmer, Mr ?mith, commenced a suit against him 
respecting it, which was heard at Cambridge, 21st March, 1583-4, 
when the jury decided, that it belonged to the college, though the 
l)arson had for a long time enjoyed it. Henry Clifford rested his 
claim upon a supposed grant by Sir Thomas le Chamberlayne, 
Knt. o3 Edw. III. [13-30].^ lie was rated for his parsonage to 
provide, in 1595, one pike furnished, that is, one pike with its 
proper apj)endages; and likewise, in 1609, to raise a pair of 
enrols [quarrels], and one pike furnished'-. Thomas Jegon, D.D., 
1G02, master, was presented by the college about 10 11 to the 
rectory of Landbeach, whenever it should become vacant. Since, 
however, he died, IStli March, 1617-8, little more than a year after 
Henry Clifford, he may have considered himself too infirm to 
take advantage of the benefit intended him. For 

WlUlam Raicley^^ B.D. 1615, fellow, succeeded Henry 
Clifford, 18th January, 1616-7, being presented by Sir Francis 
Bacon, Knt., whose ' learned chaplain"' he soon after became on his 
patron's being made Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. Sir Francis 
had procured the .turn for him from the master and fellows. 
In 1620 William Rawley took the degree of doctor of divinity. 
He rendered great assistance to his patron in his literary labours. 
He says of himself: — Having been employed as an Amanuensis, 
or daily Instrument, to this Honourable Author, and acijuainted 
with his Lordship''s conceits in the composing of his works for 
many years together, especially in his writing time, I conceived 
that no man could pretend a better interest, or claim, to the 
ordering of them after his death than myself. Consequently, he 
put out several editions of some of those works. In 1657 he 
also published in folio a volume entitled, liesusciiaiio, or bringing 
into Fuhlicl' Light several Pieces of tlie Works, Civil, Historical, 

^ Cole's MSS. Vol. vm. p. ii; Masters, p. IIG. 

^ See Correspondence o/ Parker, pp. 345, &c. ; George Herbert's Priest to 
the Temple, chap. xix. 
^ Masters, p. VM. 



115 

Philosophical, and Theological^ hitlierto sleeping, of the Right 
llonourahle Francis Bacon, Baron of Verulam, Viscount Saint 
Alban. It was in two parts, with a life of Bacon prefixed. He 
invariably styled himself, His Lordship''s first and last Chaplain^. 
Lord Bacon died in 1620, from which time AV'^illiam Rawley acted 
as chaplain to Charles I., and, subseijuently, to his son. In 1G30 
he took up his permanent abode at Landbeach, and married. 
William Jurdan, and John Boland, had been his curates, whilst he 
was non-resident, as George Thorpe was just before his death. 
Being proctor for the clergy of the diocese of Ely, William 
Eawley subscribed, 20th December, IGGl, in token of approval, 
the revised Book of Common Prayer, which the two houses of 
Convocation had just prepared. His son William, (M.A. 1G63, 
fellow,) his wife, and his servants, were all carried off by the 
plague in IGGG, which calamity so greatly affected him, that he 
died the following year,, and was buried, 20th June, in the chancel 
of his church. He, and Henry Clifford, had held the living 97 
years between them. Upon NVilliain Rawley 's death the college 
presented Francis Wilford, D.D. IGGO, master, and dean of Ely, 
22nd June, 1()()7, who died the 18th of the next month, and 
could hardly, therefore, have done anything towards taking pos- 
session. 

John Spencer^ D.D. 1GG5, fellow, was instituted to the rectory, 
23rd July, 1GG7, a few days only before his election to the mas- 
tership. He was successively archdeacon of Sudbury, and pre- 
bend, and dean, of Ely. John Spencer was not only a lover 
of learning himself, but a great encourager of it in others. He 
published a sermon entitled The Rightmus Ruler, which had been 
l)reached at St Mary's, Cambridge, 2Sth June, 1660 : A Discourse 
concerning Prodigies in 1GG3: A Discourse concerning Vulgar 
Prophecies in 1665: Dissertatio de Urirn et Thummim in 1669; 
and in 1685 his celebrated work De Legihus Hebrworum Rituali- 

1 See Lord Campbell's Hist, of the Lord Chancellors of England, Vol. iii. 
l.p. 5, 142. 

12 



IIG 

bus et eariim Ptationibus'^ . John Spencer was a very great bene- 
factor to his college, both during his life, and at his death ; indeed, 
he is said to have ' far exceeded all former benefactors/ He 
also remembered in his will the parish of Landbeach, ' where he 
had been a preacher,"* bequeathing to it the sum of five pounds-. 
An eno-ravinff of hiai was made some time back from a half- 
length contemporary portrait by Vandermyn'' preserved in the 
master''s lodge. He died 27th May, 1693*. His living, however, 
he had resigned ten years previously on behalf of his nephew, 
and curate, 

William Spencer, fellow, who was instituted 18th September, 
li383, the same year in which he took his master of arts degree. 
He died in 1688, having held the rectory only five years. Mr 
]\[asters remarks, that the college was thus a gainer by the 
arrangement between himself, and his uncle. John Jolland, M.A. 
1683, fellow, was his curate. . 

John Govij, B.D. 1683, 'a most useful fellow of the college,"* 
succeeded William Spencer, and was instituted 22nd October, 
1688. JNIichael Hart, B.A., of Caius college, was his curate in 
1680. John Cory was one of the proctors for the clergy of this 
diocese in several Convocations. The university Collection has 
a copy of verses by him on the death of Anne, duchess of 
York, in 1671. Together with the rectory of Landbeach he 
held the vicarage of Impington from March, 1715-6 to his 
death. In the reign of James II, John Spencer, the master, 
being then in the decline of life, it was feared, and, as it 
turned out, not unreasonably, that the manuscripts left to the 
college by Archbishop Parker might fall into the hands of the 
Roman Catholics, and be destroyed. John Cory, who was well 

^ There are verses by him in the university Collection on the death of 
Henrietta Maria, queen dowager, in 1669. 

2 Baker's i»f5'/S'. Vol. xxvi. pp. 281, &c. 

^ Bryan's Dictionarij of Painters and Engravers, Vol. ii. p. 114. 
• * Calainy's Abridgement of Mr Baxter's History of his Life and Times, 
Vol. n. p. 118 ; Nichols' Literary Anecdotes, Vol. iv. pp. 25, 26 ; Vol. v. p. 281. 



117 

skilled In old writing, was employed, therefore, at the instance of 
Dr Tenison, formerly fellow, afterwards archbishop of Canter- 
bury, to copy some of those relating to the establishment of the 
Protestant religion. The transcript made by him was presented 
to the dean and chapter of Ely^ His eldest son, John, became 
vicar of Waterbeach in 1721, and succeeded him in the vicarage 
of Impington on his death, 17th September, 1727. John Cory, 
like the majority of his predecessors, was buried in the chancel 
of his church under a large free stone by the side of the 
altar ^. 

John MicMehourgh^ B.D. 172-1, was instituted 22nd November, 
1727. In 1718 he had been elected professor of Chemistry in the 
university. In 1720 the dean and chapter of Ely had presented 
him to the vicarage of St Andrew the Great in Cambridge, 
which livino; he held with Landbeach until his death. In the 
parish of St Andrew the Great he afterwards built a house, (at 
the corner of Emmanuel Lane,) and generally resided, though, on 
obtaining the rectory of Landbeach from the college, he expended 
some money on the parsonage, and lived there a short time. 
In 1753 he procured through Bishop Gooch the requisite dispen- 
sation for holding likewise the vicarage of Impington, to which he 
had just been presented by the dean and chapter of Ely. John 
Micklebourgh married soon after becoming rector of Landbeach. 
Having lost his wife, wlio was buried, 4th February, 1749-50, 
after the enjoyment of uninterrupted happiness with her for the 
space of twenty years, he bore testimony to the fact in the follow- 
ing Latin verses : — - 

Quadrigami, trigami'', cleri sunt; atque vocantur 

Hsedi, quadrupedes, et sine mente ferae. 
Non ego : prima mihi conjux fuit ultima, quippe 

Quam bona prima fuit, tam bona nulla datur, 

^ It is no longer in their possession, which is of little moment, since the 
originals still remain uninjured. 

^ Nichols' Illustrations of Literature, Vol. vi. p. 805. 

3 These epithets arc supposed to allude to Dr Thomas, bishop of Lincoln 



118 

John Micklebourgh published in 175 J a sermon, which he 
had preached before the mayor and corporation of Cambridge, 
recommending the founding of a workhouse. lie was one of the 
proctors to Convocation for the diocese of Ely. He died 
11th May, 1756, when he was buried at Landbeach, as his wife 
had been before him. Ilis benefactions to Caius college were 
so great, that a commemoration is annually kept for him on 
1st February. He was succeeded, 1 6th September, by 

Robert Masters^ B.D. 1746, fellow, who was great grandson 
of Sir William ]\Iastcrs, Bart, of Cirencester. Soon afterwards 
]\Ir ^Masters became also vicar of Linton. Bishop Mawson, who 
had been master of the college, and who, therefore, had collated 
him to the latter living, permitted him, however, after being in 
possession of it for a few months, to exchange it for the neigh- 
bouring, and more convenient, vicarage of NVatcrbeach. He held 
Waterbeach from 2nd August, 1759 to 26th May, 1784, when he 
resigned it in favour of his only son William. Mr Masters 
likewise resigned the rectory of Landbeach in 1797, one year 
before his own decease, in order to facilitate an arrangement with 
the college, designed to enable his intended son-in-law, Mr Bur- 
roughes, senior fellow of Caius college, to succeed him, the living 
offered in exchannre beinnp the consolidated rectories of Bincombe 
and Broadway in Dorsetshire, which chanced to be then vacant. 
He continued to reside at the rectory-house of Landbeach. He 
was deputy to the chancellor of the diocese, William Compton, 
Es(i. LL.D., of Caius college, who lived abroad. Mr Masters 
died oth July, 1798, and was buried in the churchyard of Land- 
beach, directly under the east window. An engraving of him 



and Bishop Gooch of Ely, tlic former having been four times, and the 
latter thrice, married. The verses were first designed to serve as an epitaph 
for Mrs Mickle1)ourgh, and had been cut on stone at Cambridge ready to be 
fixed up ; but ' the absurdity of them getting wind in the University, where 
they were nuich ridiculed, he thought proper to suppress them.' Cole's MSS. 
yo\. VII. p. 102 h; Nichols' Illustrntions nf Literature, Vol. iv. p. 520. 



119 

exists, made by an artist named Facius from a drawing in 1796 
by the Rev. Thomas Kerrich, a most intimate friend, librarian to 
the university of Cambridge. He found the rectory-house, and 
chancel of the church, in a bad condition, notwithstanding the 
money, which had been laid out upon them by his predecessor, 
so that it cost him £5 GO, or more, to repair them satisfactorily. 
Mr Masters published only one sermon, The Mischiefs of Faction 
and ReheUion considered, preached at Great and Little Wilbraham, 
13th October, 1745. He is chiefly known as an antiquarian from 
his valuable History of the college put forth by parts in 1753, 
and 17.j5, 'the most complete account ever published of any 
college in either university, and upon the best plan.' To the 
Archceologia Mr Masters contributed three Articles, In 1784, 
he printed Memoirs of the Life and Writinffs of the late Rev. 
Thomas BaJcer, B.D. (Divi Johannis socius ejectus), from the 
papers of Dr Zachary Grey^ icith a Catalogue of his MS. Collec- 
tions; and in 1790 A Catalogue of the several Pictures in the Puhlick 
Lihrary and respective Colleges in the University of Cambridge. 
His last work was A short Account of the Parish of Waterbeach 
in the Diocese of Ely hy a late Vicar, M.DCO.XCV., with a 
slight sketch of Denney Abbey; but of this merely a few copies 
were printed, as presents for his friends'. 

Thomas Coole Burroughes, ]M.A., 1781, president of Caius 
college, was instituted by exchange, 28th August, 1797. He con- 
stantly resided at Landbeach ; and having been rector for nearly 
twenty-four years, died very suddenly, 23rd April, 1821. He was 
buried in the chancel of the church. His wife 3Iary survived him 
a very long time, dying in 1859, at the advanced age of 96 years, 
in the parish of Gazeley, where she was buried. 



1 See a Hhtorji of the same parish by the present vicar, published in 1859, 
p. G9. Tliere is an account of Mr ]\Iasters, and his writings, in Nichols'^ 
Literary Anecdotes, Vol. i. pp. G87, 088 ; Ibid. Vol. iii. pp. 479, &c. ', Nicliols' 
Illustrations of Literature, Vol. vi. pp. 802, G96, 707, 739, 742; AVarburton's 
Life of Horace Walpole, Vol. ii. pp.412, 426; Lamb, pp. 395, 390. 



120 



Edimrd Addison^ B.D. 1807, fellow, was presented to 
the rectory, 5th May, 1821. Tie was a regular resident on his 
living, and put the parsonage, and farm buildings, into a perfect 
state of repair at an expence of £1334. He died 28th May, 1843, 
and was buried at Landbeach, being succeeded, 6th October 
following, by 

John Tinkler, B.D., 1837, fellow and tutor, the present rector. 
Mr Tinkler, like several of his predecessors, laid out, soon after 
his induction, large sums of money upon the rectory-house, and 
the chancel of the church, which are both now in good condition. 



MEASUREMENTS OF LANDBEACH 

Internal Lenjjth 

Length of Chancel . 

Breadth of ditto 

Height of Chancel Arch 

Length of Nave 

Breadth of ditto 

Height of Side Walls of ditto 

Ditto of Nave Arches 

Breadth of ditto 

Ditto of North Aisle 

Ditto of South Aisle 

Entire breadth of Nave and Aisles 

Length of Tower (inside) . 

Breadth of ditto 

Height of Tower Arch 

Breadth of ditto 

Height of Battlements of Tower 

Ditto of AVeathercock 



CHURCH 


ft. 


In. 


88 


9 


26 


3 


14 


4 


22 


6 


50 





17 





31 


3 


18 


9 


8 


7 


10 


6 


10 


10 


41 


9 


12 


6 


9 





18 


6 


9 





52 


9 


91 






INDEX. 



Abbat, Richard, rector, 103. 
Addison, Edward, rector, 71, 120. 
Agnes, William, 33. 
Akcman Street, 1, 3, 4, 34, 35. 
Alcock, Bishop, 72, 73. 
Aldworth, monuments at, 12. 
Amnes, Johannes, curate. 111. 
Arms, 

in church, Go, G7, 68, 69. 

in hall of rectory- house, 89. 

royal, 63, 95, 96. 
Arundel, Bishop, 67, 69. 
Atte Church, John, rector, 103. 
Avenel, 

Sir Robert, 14, 48. 

John, 14, 100. 

William, 14, 48, 102. 

Sir John, 14, 48, 50, 103. 
Aunger, Nicolas, will of, 89. 

B. 

Bacon, Sir Francis, 114, 115. 
Badslcy, William, chanty of, 42, 44, 
Baldok, do, William, 24. 
Balsar's Hill, 10. 
Barker, Sir John, 25, 28. 
Barnwell, prior of, 46, 51, 54, 55, 59, 

107. 
Bath, Anglo-Saxon name of, 3. 
Bee, Bech, meaning of, 5. 
Beche, de, 

Helen, 12. 

Aleyn, 12, 17, 47, 100. 

Sir Everard, 13. 



Robert, 13, 17, 21, 100. 

Helen, 8, 14, 18, 48. 

Isabel, 14, 102. 
Beche, de la, family of, 12. 
Beche way, 3. 

Bell, sacring and sanctus, what, 76. 
Bells, church, 63, 76. 
Bendysh, Edmund, 21. 
Bere, Ic, 

Geoffry, 14, IS. 

John, 14, 18, 48, 100. 

Godyn, Godfrid, 8, 14. 

John, 14, 101. 

Stephen, 14, 17, 19. 
Bermondsey, prior of, 51. 
Berningham, de, T., rector, 102. 
Blacuin, sheriff, 6, 8. 
Bodneye, Thomas, rector, 20, 21, 106. 
Boland, John, curate, 115. 
Bonsalle, Richard, curate, 76, 111. 
Bordarii, who, 6, 8. 
Bourne, barony of, 10, 12, 46. 
Bradcfeld, Thomas, 20, 106. 
Bray, 

manor of, 8, 23. 

origin of name, 16. 
Bray, de, 

Hugh, 23, 51. 

Agnes, 23, 24, 26. 
Brocher, Richard, 

charity of, 41. 

rector, 107. 
Brooke, Thomas, chaplain, 44, 107. 
Bullocks, meaning of, 61. 
Burial fees, 61, 85, 95. 



122 



Burroughcs, T. C. rector, 43, 70, 89, 

119. 
Butt, how much, 27. 
Buttery of the rectory-house, 52, 90. 

Q 

Calves, 57. 

Cambridge, castle of, 3, 9, 21. 

Cambridge, do, Thomas, 103. 

Camping close, 60. 

Campion, John, rector, 104, 105. 

Car Dyke, 1, 5. 

Cartwrights of the king, 7, 8, 9, 23. 

Carucate, how much, 6, 8. 

Castleacre, Sir William, 20, lOG. 

Chamberlaync, manor of, 8, 17. 

Charaberlayne, le, 

Sir Walter, 15, 18, 48, 101. 

Henry, 15. 

Robert, 15. 

Alice, 15. 

Thebauil, rector, 101. 

Walter, 15, 17, 21, 65, 101. 

John, rector, 101. 

Henry, 16, 19, 27, 48, 6G, 85, 
103. 

Sir Thomas, 16, 19, 48, 65, 
85, 90, 114. 
Chapel, north, 02, 66. 
Chaplain, duties of, 88. 
Charity, 

Swayne's, 39. 

Rychard's, 39. 

Clerk's, 40. 

Knyghte's, 40. 

Brocher's, 41. 

Feesson's, 41. 

Thomas Lane's, 41. 

Henry Lane's, 41. 

Robert Lane's, 41. 

Michel's, 42. 

Badsley's, 42, 44. 

Vipers', 42. 

Ilutton's, 43, 44. 

Masters', 43. 



Charity trusts, 44, 46. 
Chrisom, meaning of, 84. 
Church, 

account of, 61. 

ancient furniture of, 74. 

architecture of, 62. 

before the Reformation, 73. 

brasses in, 71. 

cavity in pillar of, 64. 

chest in, G6. 

collections in, 80. 

earlier, 67, 71, 72, 74. 

founder of, 62, 65, 67. 

goods in, 75, 77. 

lot, 38, 45, 93. 

measurements of, 120. 

pulpit of, 72, 92. 

repairs of, 73. 
Churchwardens, 

accounts of, 45, 92. 

names of, 38, 76. 
Churchyard, 78. 
Clerk, 

Johannes, capellanus, 39, 44, 
45, 107. 

Adam, rector, 44, 54, 68, 106. 

Thomas, charity of, 40. 
CliflFord, Henry, rector, 63, 55, 57, 

69, 81, 113, 115. 
Cobbe, Thomas, rector, 110. 
Cock fen, 3, 35. 
Coffin, stone, 71. 
Cole, John, will of, 37. 
Cole, William, 5, 12, 62, 69, 101. 
Communion, 

bread and wine for, 96. 

plate, 75, 77, 78. 
Cop, meaning of, 55. 
Cory, John, rector, 23, 26, 60, 70, 

71, 116. 
Cosyn, Thomas, rector, 22, 62, 74, 

86, 107. 
Cottarii, who, 6, 8. 
Court Rolls, 22. 



123 



Crosses, village, 13, 33, 37. 
Crypt of rectory-house, 90. 
Curols, what, 114. 
Cuttyng, John, rector, 109. 

D. 

Demesne, 

let out, 20, 23. 

size of, 20, 21. 

stocked by the college, 22. 
Denney, 

abbess of, 85, 86. 

convent of, 85, 86, 107. 
Dog-whippors, who, 93, 96. 
Domesday Book, 6, 7, 8, 10. 
Door of carved oak, 72. 
Dornyx, what, 76. 
Dove houses, 61. 

E. 

Edward the Confessor, 6, 7, 9. 
Eltisle, 101, 104. 
Eltisle, de, 

Robert, 104, 105. 

Thomas (uncle), rector, 19, 
49, 104, 105. 

Thomas (nephew),rector,104. 
Ely, 

abbot of, 7, 9, 11. 

farthings, 31, 96, 99. 
Erasmus, 32. 

F. 

Feast-day, 37. 
Fees, 58, 61, 85, 95. 
Feesson, Alicia, charity of, 41. 
Ferlcs, do, John, 18, 48. 
Fields, names of, 29. 
Font, 71, 75. 
Frankincense, 92, 98. 
Free warren of 

abbess of Dennoy, 86. 

Cambridge castle, 9. 



Friars mendicant, 85, 87, 108. 
Frith fen, 38, 45, 53, 56, 58. 

G. 

Girton, 9, 26, 105. 

Glascoke, William, curate, 113. 

Glass, painted, 67, 73. 

Gonel, William, 32. 

Gooch, Bishop, 61, 117, 118. 

Goose-house, 2, 3, 4, 33. 

Gotobed, Henry, verses on, 83. 

Greye, Robert, will of, 88. 

Green, village, 36. 

Guild-hall, 38, 79. 

Guilds in the church, 73, 87, 88. 

H. 

Hall of the rectory-house, 89. 
Halytreholme, Robert, chaplain, 86. 
Halywell, John, curate, 89, 110. 
Hart, Michael, curate, 116. 
Hearse, what, 78, 93. 
Herdewick, de, John, rector, 102. 
Hide, how much, 6, 8. 
Horwode, de, William, 48, 104, 105. 
Howe, John, chaplain, 88, 109. 
Howes, hamlet of, 96. 
Howson, George, curate, 111. 
Hutton, 

Mr, family of, 81, 110. 

Katharine, charity of, 43, 44. 



Jegon, Thomas, master, 114. 
Images in the church, 73, 86, 87, 88. 
Impington, 1, 26, 36, 61, 116, 117. 
John, King, 9, 13, 100. 
Johnson, Henry, curate, 111. 
Jolland, John, curate, 116. 
Jui'dan, William, curate, 115. 

K. 

Kelingworth, Edward, chaplain, 52. 
Kerych (Keterich), William, 24, 85. 



124 



Kilborne, Richard, chaplain, 88, 109. 
King's Book, 52, 63. 
King's Hedges, 3. 
Kirkby, 

John, 25, 26, 88. 

Richard, 25, 27, 38, 83, 87. 

Robert, 25, 41, 87, 88. 
Knarcsborough, de, R. chaplain, 87. 
Knight (Knyt), meaning of, 31. 
Knight's fee, 14, 21, 27. 
Knyghte, charity of, 40. 
Kynne, John, master, 20, 49, 106. 

L. 

Lambeth, 104, 113. 
Lancaster, duke of, 

Henry, 17. 

John, 17, 20. 
Land, quahty of, 29. 
Landbcach, 

assessment of, 30. 

boundaries of, 1. 

description of, 29, 36, 79. 

feast-day of, 37. 

gentry in, 31. 

inclosure of, 30. 

inhabitants in, 31. 

meaning of, 5, 6. 

old inliabitants of, 4, 6. 

village of, 33, 36. 
Lane, 

Alice, will of, 88. 

Edward, will of, 66, 88. 

Henry, charity of, 41. 

Henry, senior, will of, 86. 

John, will of, 73, 87. 

Robert, charity of, 41. 

Thomas, charity of, 41. 

will of, 87. 

Lee, de la, Sir John, 19, 105. 
Leverington, dc, Adam, rector, 49, 

68, 100. 
Liber Elicnsis, 6, 10. 
L'Isle, de. Bishop, 07, 09, 91. 



London, de, 

Richard, rector, 48, 100, 101. 

Thomas, 100. 

William, rector, 51, 100. 
Lynton, Gregory, will of, 89. 

M. 

Macer, what, 86. 

Mannebye, de, L. rector, 100. 

Manor of Bray, 

lords of, 23. 

size of, 20, 30. 
Manor of Chamberlayno, 

lords of, 17. 

size of, 20, 21, 22, 30. 
Margaret, countess of Richmond, 08. 
Mariebourgh, Thomas, clerk, 8. 
Masters, 

Mary, 119. 

Robert, rector, 15, 23, 29, 34, 
43, 58, 59, 64, 67, 72, 78, 
89, 118. 

William, 79. 
Mawson, Bishop, 34, 118. 
Michel, charity of, 42. 
Micklebourgh, 

John, rector, 31, 60, 69, 70, 
117. 

Mrs, 70, 117. 
Milton, 1, 9, 20, 33, 35, 36, 37, 61, 

63, 87. 
Montacute, Bishop, 16, 101, 102. 
Monument in church, 65. 
Munns, Sarah, gift of, 83. 

N. 

Neketon, do, John, rector, 106. 
Nobys, Peter, rector, 108. 

O. 

Offerings, how much, 54. 
Offyngton, de, David, rector, 101. 
Oxen, price of, 22. 



125 



P. 

Page, Thomas, will of, 88. 
Parish clerk, payment of, 79. 
Parish ckrks, names of, 79, 81, 84. 
Parish registers, 

account of, 80. 

entries in, 81, 83. 

sponsors' names in, 82. 

virses in, 83. 
Parker, Matthew, rector, 22, 27, 32, 

52, 91, 110, 111. 
Parlour of the rectory-house, 52, 

G7, 90. 
Parsons, Thomas, of Ely, 33. 
Pascal-candle, 54. 
Peche, de, 

Gilbert, 12. 

Hamon, 11, 17, 21. 
Pelham, Brent, (Burnt), 15, 19. 
Pepys, Talbot, 82. 
Pers de Cantebrig., rector, 12, 100. 
Peverel, de, 

Payne, 11, 13, 46. 

Sir William, 11,12, 17,47,100. 
Picot, 

the sheriff, 6, 7, 8, 10, 17, 46. 

his character, 11. 

Robert, 11, 47. 
Pictures in the church, 68, 73, 87. 
Plague of 

1349, 102, 

1578, 81, 

1666, 115. 
Pontage, what, 21. 
Poor men's box, 77, 89, 92. 
Porye, John, rector, 45, 111, 112. 
Preachers, licensed, 69, 110, 113. 
Pupilla Oculi, 86. 
Pykerynge, Mast., curate, 87, 109. 

R. 

Racclyffe, 

Elizabeth, will of, 87. 
William, 25, 74, 87. 



Rawley, W., rector, 60, 69, 95, 99, 1 14. 
Rectory, 

appropriation of, 49. 

house, 53, 89. 

patronage of, 47, 48. 

payments from, 58, 59, 61. 

privileges of, 56. 

property of, 53, 55. 

value of, 50, 60, 61. 
Registrar of births, &c., 82. 
Road to Ely, 

account of, 3, 4, 33. 

opposition to, 34. 
Road to Impington, &c. 35. 
Roman 

colonists, 4. 

remains, 1, 4. 
Rood-beam, 81. 
Rood-loft at 

Guilden Morden, 73. 

Landbeach, 81, 88. 
Ry chard, 

Johannes, charity of, 39. 

William, will of, 86. 



S. 



Sance bell, what, 92. 

School-house, 36, 43, 44, 92, 95. 

Scutage, what, 11. 

Sepulchre light, 87, 88. 

Serfs, 8, 105. 

Seyntwary, J. rector, 22, 86, 107, 108. 

Sheep-walks, 27, 29. 

Sidesmen, 94. 

Sir, use of, 103. 

Slab, 

incised, 24. 
raised cross, 71. 
Smithe, Robert, will of, 89. 
Smoke farthings, 31, 96, 99. 
Soc, what, 7, 9, 29. 
Sowode, William, rector, 23, 38, 63, 
58, 88,91, 110. 



126, 



Spencer, 

John, rector, 115. 

William, rector, 116. 
St JEd^l of Ely, 7. 
St Benedict in Cambridge, 15, 32, 

G3, 105, 108. 
St James, 

altar of, 88. 

lamp of, 40, 73. 
Stationer, what, 48. 
Stowe, de, 

John, rector, 75, 85, 102. 

William, 102. 
Stretham 

cross, 37. 

ferry, 4, 33. 

parish, 1, 10. 
Stukeley, Dr, 2, 4, 5. 
Swan, name of, 39. 
Swayn, John, 

charity of, 39. 

will of, 86. 
Sweating sickness, 111. 

T, 

Taxations of livings, 50. 

Taylor, family of, 33, 37, 42. 

Tempsford, 24, 66. 

Thomas in the Ilerne, chaplain, 102. 

Thorpe, George, curate, 1 15. 

Thurlowe, William, will of, 89. 

Tinkler, John, rector, 36, 44, 79, 89, 

90, 120. 
Tournaments bad for study, 16. 
Town houses, 43. 
Tower of church, arms on, 62. 
Tradition, false, 2. 
Trental, meaning of, 88. 



V. 

Vestry-meetings, women at, 66. 
Village, lords of, 27, 28. 
Villani, who, 6, 8. 
Vipors, John, charity of, 42. 
Virgate, how much, 6, 8. 
Utbech, meaning of, 6. 

W. 
Walpol, de, Richard, rector, 101. 
Warde, John, will of, 88. 
Warth pennies, what, 21. 
Waterbeach, 1, 9, 15, 26, 86, 100, 

105, 117. 
Waterbeach cum Denney, manor of, 

30. 
Wengham, de. Bishop, 101. 
Whalleye, W., rector, 82, 89, 112. 
Whitmore, 89, 90. 
Wickstead, John, Esq., 69. 
Wilford, Francis, master, 115. 
William, rector, 100. 
William I., King, 6, 7, 9, 10, 17. 
Willows, 57. 
Wills, 85. 

Woodward, T. chaplain, 44, 107. 
Wood- work, carved, 72. 
Worts, William, 26. 
Worts' estate, 4, 26, 36, 37, 44. 
Wyllys, Agnes, will of, 87. 
Wysett, John, curate, 52, 108. 

Y. 

Yardland, how much, 8. 
Younge, Dr, 112. 



Z. 



Zouch, 89, 90. 



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